Free Republic

If the FBI can selectively leak portions of the affidavit agents used to justify the search of Mar-a-Lago, then why should it be allowed to conceal the rest of the affidavit? I have been unable to locate any condemnation by the FBI of the leaks to the New York Times of the “highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government,” in connection with the Mar-a-Lago raid. That’s strange because only a day earlier the Justice Department told a federal judge that releasing the names of these witnesses would, “jeopardize the integrity of this national security investigation.” The...

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No matter how small your personal act of defiance against tyranny, it is consequential in ways you may never know. I do love American patriot Sam Adams. He was a brawler and intellectual who passionately believed in the cause of liberty, while also understanding that strategic patience and persistent public agitation were as valuable for effecting change as punctuated bursts of outright rebellion. His fingerprints were all over the Boston Tea Party, but he was also instrumental in forming Committees of Correspondence across the colonies that helped shape public opinion into organized action. He grasped the bigger picture and played...

BEIJING (AP) — Factories in China’s southwest have shut down and a city imposed rolling blackouts after reservoirs to generate hydropower ran low in a worsening drought, adding to economic strains at a time when President Xi Jinping is trying to extend his hold on power. Companies in Sichuan province including makers of solar panels, cement and urea closed or reduced production after they were ordered to ration power for up to five days, according to news reports Wednesday. That came after reservoir levels fell and power demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures. “Leave power for the people,”...

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report is changing its rating of Pennsylvania’s Senate race from a “toss up” to “lean Democrat” fewer than three months before the November midterms. The development comes against the backdrop of the social media campaign that Democratic candidate John Fetterman has waged against opponent Mehmet Oz (R) that has sought to portray the celebrity as a carpetbagger from New Jersey who is out of touch with voters. Fetterman’s campaign has enlisted big New Jersey names like former “Jersey Shore” cast member Nicole “Snooki” LaValle and musician Steven Van Zandt to troll the celebrity doctor while raising...

CHONGQING, China (AP) — Ships crept down the middle of the Yangtze on Friday after China’s driest summer in six decades left one of the mightiest rivers barely half its normal width and set off a scramble to contain the damage to a weak economy in a politically sensitive year. Factories in Sichuan province and the adjacent metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest were ordered to shut down after reservoirs that supply hydropower fell to half their normal levels and demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures. River ferries in Chongqing that usually are packed with sightseers were empty...

KYIV, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Energoatom state nuclear company said on Friday Russian forces planned to switch off the functioning power blocks at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and to disconnect them from the Ukrainian power grid. In a statement, Energoatom said it believed Russia, which controls the power plant in southern Ukraine, was preparing to conduct a "large-scale provocation" there. Moscow itself accused Kyiv of preparing a "provocation" at the site on Thursday. (clip) Turning the plant off would pile new pressure on Ukrainian supplies, particularly in the south. Ukraine is already bracing for its most difficult winter...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — After working as an overnight security guard at a church in Harare’s impoverished Mabvuku township, Jeffrey Carlos rushes home to help his wife fetch water to sell. Prolonged water shortages mean most residents of the capital city of more than 2.4 million must source their own water. Carlos is lucky because the property he rents has a well and his family can haul up buckets of water to sell to neighbors. “This is our gold,” he says of the well water. “If we are lucky, we can sell up to 12 buckets of water (per day)...

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank on Thursday lowered its key interest rate despite inflation surging to nearly 80% and making it difficult for people to buy what they need, falling in line with the unorthodox economic views of the country’s president. In a statement following a monetary policy committee meeting, the bank said it decided to reduce the policy rate from 14% to 13%. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pressured the bank into lowering borrowing costs in a bid to boost economic growth, investment and exports, insisting that interest rate hikes cause inflation. That contradicts established economic thinking,...

REVEALED: San Francisco, Cleveland and Portland have America's most deserted downtown areas as soaring crime in Democrat-run cities scares workers, tourists and homeowners away San Francisco's downtown activity was down to 31 compared to 2019 as the city contends with high crime despite finally agreeing to shut down its controversial open-air drug market by the end of the year Cleveland's downtown activity was down to 36 percent, a blow to the city making strides to fight back decade high crime rates and giving police more leeway to crack down on crime Portland had the third worst downtown activity since its...

According to the American Declaration of Independence, people enter into political society for the sake of protecting their inalienable rights, which are otherwise insecure. The question then arises: what can the people do if the government betrays its trust, and violates their rights? The Declaration’s initial answer is “that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.” [The Declaration of Independence devotes more space to the right of revolution than to any other single concept.] The people create the government,...

A Milwaukee woman claims she was defending her children when she fatally shot an intruder who entered her home. The mother of two, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was showering before work Monday morning when she heard her 12- and 14-year-old screaming from the living room, news station TMJ4 reported. She immediately ran to her room, grabbed her gun, and confronted the intruder, who was undeterred by the family’s two pit bulls. She then shot him multiple times.

Auction sales at the Monterey Car Week are expected to total between $300 million and $490 million, according to Hagerty Automotive Intelligence, the classic-car insurance and collector-lifestyle company...Here are the top five cars, by estimated value, expected to sell this week in Monterey...

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The prosecution rested Thursday, Aug. 18 in the trial of two men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The prosecution rested after testimony from an undercover FBI agent with supposed access to explosives. Barry Croft Jr., 46, of Bear, Delaware, and Adam Fox, 38 of Wyoming, Michigan, are on trial in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. Special agent Tim Bates, known as “Red,” said he joined alleged conspirators – in three vehicles - in a night-time reconnaissance mission in September 2020 to the governor’s place in Elk Rapids. He said Fox took photos...

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...Bannon, who was the chief strategist of Trump's 2016 campaign and of his administration during 2017, said of Pence: 'This is an individual who has done more damage to this country than any other person in modern political history. He's gutless.' 'Just even the sight of you bugs me,' he said of Pence. 'Just a disgusting coward. Of course, we're the party of law and order, right. But this is not what we're talking about. We're talking about a police state. And you don't have the guts to stand up to it.' Trump accused the FBI of corruption after it...

On Thursday, August 18, for the first time since July 6, Russia did not declare "territorial achievements in Ukraine. Ukrainian official sources also did not declare new losses of territories. This is reported by the American Institute for the Study of War (Institute for the Study of War, or ISW). At the same time, it is noted that Russian troops continue to make limited and unsuccessful ground assaults in eastern Ukraine. Also, the Institute for the Study of War draws attention to Russian reports of explosions throughout the Crimea on the night of August 18, probably caused by Russian air...

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Defenders of Ukraine again staged an "enchanting evening" for the Russian invaders in the temporarily occupied Kherson region. "Cotton" in the evening of August 18 again happened in the city of Novaya Kakhovka. This was announced by the deputy of the Kherson Regional Council and military Territorial Defense Sergey Khlan on his Facebook page. He noted that now it is worth waiting for the count of the Russian invaders destroyed by the strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Kherson region. Apu in Novaya Kakhovka again arranged an enchanting evening for the Russians. We are waiting for the morning and...