Free Republic

Thursday evening, CBS's Scott Pelley, who officially ended his tenure as the network's Evening News anchor the following evening, told viewers that "It's time to ask whether the attack on the United States Congress Wednesday was foreseeable, predictable and, to some degree, self-inflicted." It's clear from Pelley's subsequent commentary that his answers to all three elements are "Yes." It's equally clear from the examples he supplied as support that he sees (or wants viewers to see) the problem as predominantly about the conduct of those on the right.

CNN asked, “Should Trump be investigated for obstruction of justice?” Note: They did not even show enough respect to call him ‘President Trump.’ To their chagrin, OVER 70% of 2.6 million Americans say he is innocent the crime.

...In December, a total of 7,371 refugees arrived in this country, State Department reports show. In January, another 6,777 were admitted. By last month, however, the total number of arrivals was down to 3,989 and less than 1,700 have been admitted in the first half of June. In New Jersey, 611 refugees were resettled last year. This year through mid-June, 201 have come to a state where the welcome mat already was less than warm. The Christie administration last year told the federal government that New Jersey would no longer will participate in refugee resettlement programs, leaving it up to nonprofit...

Leonardo DiCaprio has reportedly handed over to the federal government an Oscar, originally won by Marlon Brando, that was gifted to him by Red Granite Pictures, a production company that is allegedly involved with a massive Malaysian embezzlement scheme. According to Deadline Hollywood, an asset seizure request was filed against Red Granite on Thursday by the Department of Justice. Red Granite, a film production company that has worked on movies such as “The Wolf Of Wall Street,” has been accused of using millions of stolen dollars to pay for its films. The money was allegedly taken from a fund that was intended to...

....After eight-and-a-half years on an upward trajectory in Washington, D.C., Chaffetz of Utah has suddenly and quite unexpectedly pulled himself out of the game. Attkisson: "Some people might think this is a great time to be a Republican chairman of an important committee because Republicans control the House, they're the majority in the Senate, and they hold the president's office. That means, you would think, that federal agencies can't stonewall investigations of spending, waste, fraud and abuse." Chaffetz: "The reality is, sadly, I don't see much difference between the Trump administration and the Obama administration. I thought there would be...

Subtitle: End the Poofter War. What follows isn’t intended to promote the establishment of a temporary, unconstitutional dictator over the United States. Since we are 240 years or so too late to seriously consider an office which well-served Republican Rome for some 450 years, this squib is simply a thought experiment in free government. The American Constitution and traditions don’t allow for the collapse of enormous, unconstitutional power into the hands of one, or a few people. Or does it? The objectives of Poofter Wars are ill-defined or non-existent; without objectives, there is no practical end to Poofter War. The...

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The theory: a cargo ship with a "dirty bomb" was just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The notion came to life during a live YouTube broadcast Wednesday evening. During the broadcast, conspiracy theorist George Webb initially claimed a "source" had told him that there was "a dirty bomb planned for a major city." Based on the information from the "source," Webb said he believed Memphis might be the target. The Coast Guard said in a further statement provided to CNN that the source of the threat had been detained by authorities for further questioning. The statement did not mention Webb's...

California and other states would be barred from setting their own rules governing design and testing of self-driving cars, while federal regulators would be blocked from demanding pre-market approval for autonomous vehicle technology, according to a U.S. House Republican proposal reviewed by Reuters on Thursday. The draft legislation, while far from becoming law, still represents a victory for General Motors Co, Alphabet Inc, Tesla Inc and other automakers and technology companies seeking to persuade Congress and the Trump administration to pre-empt rules under consideration in California, New York and other states that could limit deployment of self-driving vehicles.....

In a video posted to Facebook, a Missouri lawmaker cuts off the head of a chicken while announcing he wants to stop abortions in the state. State Rep. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, posted the video Monday afternoon. In it, he segues from saying that God entrusted humans to protect and care for animals into making a plea to Missourians to support his bill stopping abortion. “We’ve been called back for this special session for the primary purpose of supporting life, protecting the unborn specifically,” Moon said in the video. As he pulled something from the chicken’s innards, he...

“The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing,” declared George Washington, “is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.” Theodore Roosevelt concurred: “Profanity is the parlance of the fool. Why curse when there is such a magnificent language with which to discourse?” The answer is that profanity is a useful substitute for discourse when one is losing a debate and needs to trump reason with passionate intensity in order to win. That is what is happening in the current degraded state of our national political conversation. I’m not...

Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) is in the final stages of negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the talks said. This would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy F-35 jet, set to make its Paris Airshow debut this week. The sale represents a major shift in sales practices from annual purchases to more economic multi-year deals that lower the cost of each jet. The pricing of the jets was still not final, although the average...

Scientists, technologists, engineers, and visionaries are building the future. Amazing things are in the pipeline. It’s a big deal. But you already knew all that. Such speculation is common. What’s less common? Scale. How big is big? “Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, Silicon Dock, all of the Silicons around the world, they are dreaming the dream. They are innovating,” Catherine Wood said at Singularity University’s Exponential Finance in New York. “We are sizing the opportunity. That's what we do.” Wood is founder and CEO of ARK Investment Management, a research and investment company focused on the growth potential of today’s disruptive...

The 19-year-old man charged with attempted murder in the shooting of two young girls attending an end-of-year school picnic had flashed gang signs before gunfire erupted from the Jeep he was riding in, a prosecutor said Sunday. Raekwon Hudson, wearing a torn and tattered green sweatshirt, showed little reaction when Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered him to remain in jail. “No bail! Take him back!” Chiampas shouted to her courtroom sheriff’s deputies after voicing her disgust. “Young children in this city can’t participate in a picnic without being in fear of their lives because of gangbangers on the street...

THURSTON COUNTY, WASHINGTON A female wolf that bit off part of a 3-year-old Thurston County boy’s arm in April has been relocated to an out-of-state wildlife sanctuary, along with her pups and her Alaskan malamute mate. {snip} “She’s not aggressive in a mean way,” Miracle said. “She just liked food.” He believes that the boy was trying to feed Cheyenne a piece of pizza when he was attacked. {snip}He said he gave Angel, Zoe and Lakota to Wolf Haven “because they really wanted them.” But why breed wolf-dogs? Miracle said he had one as a boy, and it was a...

President Donald Trump spent the Father's Day weekend at Camp David, which has been a quiet getaway for presidents in the Maryland countryside. After spending weekends at his own luxury clubs, this was Trump's first weekend at the presidential retreat known for its rustic charm. Trump also tweeted about the retreat, a 30-minute helicopter ride from White House, saying it was an honor to be there. The retreat is administered by the White House Military Office and includes a presidential office and living quarters, swimming pool, and meeting hall. (TWEET-AT-LINK) Trump usually spends weekends at the properties owned by him...

A noted art collector and philanthropist has sold a major painting for an eye-popping $165 million to raise money for criminal justice reform. Agnes Gund sold Roy Lichtenstein's 1962 work Masterpiece, reportedly to billionaire hedge fund manager and art collector Steve Cohen. The sale apparently took place months ago; an art industry newsletter reported on the transaction in January, but Gund would not confirm it. On Monday, The New York Times confirmed that the sale was real, noting that the painting becomes one of the 15 most expensive pieces of art known to have been sold. And the newspaper revealed...

The company, which wasn't named, quietly pushed back in the government's secret court against the National Security Agency's surveillance program, but ultimately failed. {snip}....All of the documents relate to the government's use of the so-called Section 702 statute, named after its place in the law books, a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The statute authorizes the collection of data on foreign persons overseas who use US tech and telecoms services. The law is widely known in national security circles as forming the legal basis authorizing the so-called PRISM surveillance program, which reportedly taps data from nine tech titans...

The deadly collision that unfolded outside a mosque in London early Monday has been declared a terrorist attack by British officials . “We don’t yet know the full details, but this was clearly a deliberate attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan,” London mayor Sadiq Khan wrote in a statement. “While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge, it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect,” he said.

Jay Z is continuing his fight against the criminal justice system by helping men who have been incarcerated but can’t get release due to exorbitant bail bonds. In an essay for Time magazine, Hov attacks the “exploitative bail industry” for their practices that he deems are unfair to black and brown people. “If you’re from neighborhoods like the Brooklyn one I grew up in, if you’re unable to afford a private attorney, then you can be disappeared into our jail system simply because you can’t afford bail,” Jay writes. “Millions of people are separated from their families for months at...