Free Republic

Even as Democrats continue to obstruct and play politics, I have never stopped fighting for the people, and I have no intention of changing course. I promised Jan. 20, 2017, would be remembered as a new day for all Americans – the day the people became the rulers of this nation once again. For the past 365 days, that promise has been my guide. We are putting America first, making real change in Washington, and creating opportunities for all of our people. From coast to coast, there is a renewed spirit. Our country is roaring back more quickly than anyone...

Security forces battled a group of three or four gunmen who stormed the popular western-style Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday. Details of the attack, including information on any casualties, were unclear but the attackers appeared to have included suicide bombers, Reuters reported, citing Afghan ministry spokesman Najib Danish for the information. The hotel came under attack around 9 p.m. local time. Reuters reported that there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest in a long series to have hit Kabul. U.S. officials in Kabul told Fox News the hotel was on fire.

Reuters reports: ANKARA – Turkey has warned its citizens against travel to the United States, saying Turks face the risk of arbitrary arrest and should take precautions if they do decide to travel, the latest tit-for-tat volley in a diplomatic feud between the NATO allies.

FBI agents knew the gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history left behind big caches of guns, ammunition and explosives when they sought warrants to search his properties and online accounts, according to court documents released Friday. A U.S. judge in Nevada unsealed the documents showing some of what federal agents learned about Stephen Paddock in the week after the Las Vegas shooting. Prosecutors didn't oppose the request from media organizations including The Associated Press to release affidavits that were filed to get search warrants.

The suspect accused of detonating a bomb near the New York Port Authority last month was indicted on six counts by a federal grand jury. Akayed Ullah, 27, of Brooklyn, was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, one count of using and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of bombing and attempting to bomb a place of public use and a public transportation system; one count of destruction and attempted destruction by means of fire or explosives, one count of conducting and attempting to conduct a terrorist attack against a...

The most popular name for newborn boys in St. Cloud is now Henry. But closing fast is a name that reflects the central Minnesota city’s growing diversity — Mohamed. For the first time, Mohamed cracked the most popular boys’ names in 2017 at the St. Cloud Hospital, which delivers nearly 3,000 babies a year. Sixteen newborn boys went home from the hospital last year with the name Mohamed, which tied with Liam for second place. Eighteen baby boys delivered at the hospital were named Henry. And for the first time, Salma, an Arabic name, cracked the top 10 list of...

Usually selling drugs is all about money. Drug dealers don’t care who they hurt just as long as they have a strong cash flow. One would think the the heroin epidemic is a case in point. Looking at the data I find that over the past 15 years the supply of heroin has almost doubled. Over the past 20 years the price of heroin has fallen more than 50%. I also notice that Hezbollah has become a major drug trafficker and that it uses its profits for weapons. Now this is all bad enough but a thought occurred to me...

A skeletal portrait of the Sterling, Va., man federal authorities have accused of obstructing a terrorism investigation began to come into focus on Monday — that of a directionless youth who converted to Islam at the end of high school, married a significantly older Muslim woman, had a child who died as an infant, and became increasingly religious until an arrest Friday that allegedly included him destroying a computer thumb drive that authorities suspect may have contained evidence of terrorism-related activity. In the months before that arrest, court filings allege, Sean Andrew Duncan, 21, who will appear in federal court...

Hundreds of new protective barriers will be permanently installed in Times Square and other locations around New York in an effort to block vehicles from hitting pedestrians after deadly attacks last year on crowds. The city is spending $50 million on protective measures including the installation of 1,500 metal barriers, or bollards, in key locations around the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

For Democrats, any excuse to open the immigration floodgates is good. Take Hillary’s failed VP running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, and his response to the Iran protests. Of all the ways the United States could support the protesters, what pops into Kaine’s cranium? Yup, as Kaine tweeted [emphasis added]: “Big step US could take to support democracy movement in Iran: Drop the Iranian travel ban.” Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

On Sunday evening, President Donald J. Trump took to Twitter to slam the Iranian government and to remind the world that the Islamic Republic is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, something President Obama's State Department reported in 2016.  Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Indeed, President Trump is correct. A 2016 State Department annual report said Iran “remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism...

The Union of Insurance Companies in the Netherlands is worried about the growing number of car fires in the country. According to their statistics, the number has never been so high. With 2,808 car fires in the first nine months, 2017 is already a record breaking year, with 90 more car fires than in 2016 and 398 more than in 2015. With 2,808 incidents in the first nine months of this year, 312 cars were burned per month: That’s more than 10 per day! According to a spokesman of the Union, most car fires are intentionally lit. They cost on...

British Major General Rialls, 1000 British Regulars and 400 Indian allies cross the Niagara River. They attack 2100 New York State Militia under the command of Major General Hall. After a short fight, the militia withdraws (by some accounts run). The British troops put the torch to the villages of Buffalo and Black Rock, burning all but 4 out of 150 buildings. Also burned are 4 ships tied up there. The British and their Indian allies withdraw to Canada.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A gunman killed at least 11 people on Friday in attacks on a Coptic Orthodox church and a Christian-owned shop near Cairo before he was wounded and arrested, the Egyptian interior ministry and church officials said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, in a statement carried out by its Amaq news agency, though it provided no evidence for the claim. [snip] The Coptic Church said the gunman first shot at a Christian-owned shop 4 km (3 miles) away, killing two people, before proceeding to the Mar Mina church in the southern Cairo suburb of Helwan. The...

More of mother Merkel’s legacy. Achtung! Breitbart, December 24, 2017: Germany’s judicial system is groaning under the strain of an explosion in terror cases since Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the door to unlimited numbers of migrants in 2015. The German Attorney-General opened a shocking 1,200 terror cases in 2017, of which around 1,000 were related to radical Islamic terrorism, Tagesschau reports. This represents a fivefold increase on 2016, when the figure stood at around 250 — with roughly 200 cases being related to radical Islam. Sven Rebehn, the head of the German association of judges, has warned that the...

The Department of Homeland Security said chain migration is the common element in two cases allegedly tied to terrorism activities, according to a statement released Saturday. In the statement on Twitter, Acting Press Secretary Tyler Houlton said DHS “can confirm the suspect involved in a terror attack in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and another suspect arrested on terror-related money laundering charges were both beneficiaries of extended family chain migration.” The memo referred to Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty, 51, who it said was a naturalized U.S. citizen admitted to the U.S. from Egypt on a family-based visa. El-Mofty went on a shooting spree Friday...

...Even if Bergdahl was not a deserter, the trade would have been a bad deal. As Investor’s Business Daily noted in an editorial charging “Obama Gave Material Assistance To Our Taliban Enemy,” President Obama committed a federal crime by trading Taliban leaders for Bergdahl: As former congressman and Afghanistan veteran Allen West points out, President Obama signed into law only months ago the National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it a crime to offer or provide any material support to terrorist groups. It makes no exception as to who and under which circumstances. The Taliban is considered a non-state terrorist...

They wanted him dead. For years, a clandestine U.S. intelligence team had tracked a man they knew was high in the leadership of al Qaeda — an operative some believed had a hand in plotting the gruesome 2009 suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA officers. Their pursuit was personal, and by early 2014, according to a source directly involved in the operation, the agency had the target under tight drone surveillance. “We literally had a bead on this guy’s head and just needed authorization from Washington to pull the trigger,” said the source. Then something unexpected happened. While...

The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) on Tuesday warned consumers to avoid certain supermarket products after claims on an anarchist website that they had intentionally been contaminated with hydrochloric acid. The products concerned are plastic 1.5-liter bottles of Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Light, Yfantis luncheon meat (“pariza”) in 500- and 350-gram packages, and blue 1-liter cartons of fresh milk from Delta. The products are being withdrawn from shelves by the companies as a precautionary measure. The move comes after a group calling itself Green Nemesis-Praxis 3 made the claim that the items had been contaminated. Similar incidents occurred before Christmas last year...

Former President Barack Obama’s administration derailed efforts by the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration to prosecute a Hezbollah crime syndicate over fears it would disrupt efforts to sign a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Politico reports. The Obama administration’s efforts included using elements of executive power like the Department of Justice and Department of State to quash efforts by law enforcement to drastically reign in Hezbollah operations. “They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down,” an analyst on the law enforcement effort told...