Free Republic

Later this year — unless President Trump intervenes — the American people will get access to the last of thousands of secret government files about a turning point in the nation’s history: the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The National Archives this week released several hundred of the documents, which come from CIA and FBI files, and of course, JFK researchers are scrambling to see whether they contain any new clues about the president’s murder. But many more documents remain under seal, awaiting release by this October, the 25-year deadline set by the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection...

Sacramento’s light rail operator has installed 14 surveillance cameras and made other safety improvements at the North Highlands station where a deputy was shot in the face last month during a scuffle on the station platform.

House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is calling on Robert Mueller, special counsel for the Department of Justice’s Russia investigation, to resign. Franks claims Mueller is violating a law governing the special counsel that prohibits him from serving if he has a “conflict of interest,” which includes “a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution.” Franks cited a Fox News report from May that cast Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey as “longtime allies.” Mueller served as the FBI Director when Comey was the Deputy...

In the comments on last night’s post about the Konstanz discotheque incident, the venerable Mark Spahn asked me to justify my statement that “[n]othing a Muslim does to a non-Muslim is illegal under Islamic law.” I’m glad he made the request. It gives me the opportunity to explain once again the legal justification under the Shariah for various deeds that would be considered crimes under Western law. We’ve picked up quite a few readers since the last time I covered this material, so newcomers may find the following references helpful. As with so many examples from Islamic law, I’ll cite...

Multiple reports have surfaced saying former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was only hired to get rid of former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Scaramucci was removed from his position Monday, after 10 days on the job. The dismissal came alongside reports that White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and President Trump’s daughter Ivanka influenced the president to bring in Scaramucci, primarily to take out Priebus. “Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, and Jared Kushner, her husband, had pushed the president to hire Mr. Scaramucci, seeing him as a way to force out Mr. Priebus, the former national...

On Thursday, July 27th, just before 12:30 p.m., Gonzales Police say a male suspect robbed the Regions Bank on N. Airline Highway after handing the teller a note. The suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, and police were unable to locate him on the premises. However, after a press release was issued, tips came into the department, identifying 32-year-old Floyd Hose Jr. of Gonzales as the robbery suspect. He was arrested in Lake Charles, along with a woman he was with, 27-year-old Katrina Griffin of Oakdale. Police say after they discovered a number of social media posts...

It seems safe to say that Senator Jeff Flake’s new anti-Trump book is politically contraindicated. His approval ratings in his home state, Arizona, are so low they are somewhere down in a missile silo; according to Politico, the president has privately said he would spend $10 million in the Republican primary to whisk Flake out of the Senate with a broom. Then again, maybe this is what a man who’s facing political expiration does: speaks his mind, goes for broke. Or perhaps he’s simply fed up. Flake was one of the few Never Trumpers in Congress to remain so right...

China’s weaponization of trade China has encouraged and then exploited other countries’ economic reliance on it to compel their support for its foreign-policy objectives Brahma Chellaney China denies mixing business with politics, yet it has long used trade to punish countries that refuse to toe its line. China’s recent heavy-handed economic sanctioning of South Korea, in response to that country’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, was just the latest example of the Chinese authorities’ use of trade as a political weapon. China’s government has encouraged and then exploited states’ economic reliance on it...

Europe is full of ‘Last men’ (and perhaps women, I suppose we are now forced to say, given the incessant demand for political correctness). Why is this so and who will come to dwell in these territories we have hitherto called — home? We are not talking about some imaginary seven kingdoms, as in the legendary but fictional television series, Game of Thrones, either. The point of contention is about a real place, with real peoples, and real nations that have existed for centuries on end, perhaps thousands of years—called Europa. Trends in immigration suggest what can only be termed,...

L'Osservatore Romano: Good priests holding faithful back from Francis' revolution A long piece from the failing Vatican newspaper, but the key portion is below, translated by Rorate's Francesca Romana. Francis' war on good priests -- and on all faithful Catholics -- continues:  HABIT IS NOT FAITHFULNESS: The Conversion asked for by Pope Francis The greatest obstacle that hampers conversion -- which Pope Francis wants the Church to do -- is  constituted in some measure, by the behavior of a good part of the clergy, both high and low [ranked]. Behavior, at times, of non-communication if not hostility. Like the disciples in...

At 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Israeli police say, authorities arrested five Palestinian antiquities dealers in Jerusalem and confiscated items dating back thousands of years from their homes and shops: papyrus fragments from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the bust of an Etruscan woman, a fresco from Pompeii depicting swimming fish. They also seized more modern objects — two black luxury Audi vehicles — and more than $200,000 in cash.

Police in New York City expressed frustration about not being able to stop naked panhandlers from harassing the public because most of them are illegal aliens. Their status makes it difficult to enforce tickets because of Mayor de Blasio’s sanctuary city policies. The city established “Designated Activity Zones” (DAZ) in 2016 to provide a place for “costumed characters” a place to work for tips. Some of these panhandlers, called desnudas, are nude women wearing painted on costumes. Law enforcement officers frequently decline to ticket panhandling violations because most of them are illegal aliens, the Daily Mail reported. A proposal to...

I've been wrapped up in writing a new book, so I didn't notice this right when it was published, but a couple of weeks ago there was a paper in Physical Review Letters titled Experimental Evidence for Quantum Tunneling Time that's worth a mention here. This is, as the title suggests, an investigation of one of the signature weird effects of quantum physics, namely the phenomenon of "tunneling" where a particle encountering a barrier can end up on the other side even though it doesn't have enough energy to get there by normal means. This was followed a few days...

Sen. John McCain was one of three Republicans who helped shoot down the "skinny" repeal of Obamacare early Friday morning, and two retired D.C. politicians reportedly helped talk him into the "no" vote. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., both pressed McCain to oppose Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to advance a plan that ultimately aimed to repeal and replace portions of Obamacare, according to a Washington Post report.....

The Electric Bioreactor Farm Finnish researchers have created a batch of single-cell protein that is nutritious enough to serve for dinner using a system powered by renewable energy. The entire process requires only electricity, water, carbon dioxide, and microbes. The synthetic food was created as part of the Food From Electricity project, which is a collaboration between Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. After exposing the raw materials to electrolysis in a bioreactor, the process forms a powder that consists of more than 50 percent protein and 25 percent carbohydrates — the texture...

RIMINI, Italy, July 31, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — An estimated 400 Italians joined a rosary procession to do public penance in reparation for the “public scandal” of a seaside town’s second annual homosexual “Pride” celebrations. The parade, described as “sombre,” took place as announced in Rimini, Italy on Saturday, July 29. It was organized by the “Comitato Beata Giovanna Scopelli” (Blessed Giovanna Scopelli Committee), which first organized a public penance for “Pride” celebrations in Reggio Emilia on June 3. Since then, similar rosary processions have taken place in several Italian cities, including Milan.   In a jubilant press release, the Committee...

Ted Nugent speaking at 6:40).....the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule are a guideline for conduct and civility, but when our government can attack am Amish farmer. When our anti-justice court system with the alphabet soup of power abuse whether its BLM, ATF, FDA, USDA, US-IRS, the commando jackboot power abusers of all time..... .....Amish farmer can take a dairy product from his dairy farm and sell it to his neighbors as a dairy product which I understand is an everday occurrence in the free world and discover there are healing attributes to a certain goat cheese and offer it to...

Fake Solar Eclipse Glasses Are Flooding the Market: How to Stay Safe By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | If you're planning to view the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, make sure you've got the right safety gear. Phony eclipse glasses are currently flooding the marketplace, according to the American Astronomical Society (AAS). This counterfeit equipment falsely claims to meet the international standard for safe solar viewing, which is known as ISO 12312-2 (also written as ISO 12312-2:2015). So how do you know that your eclipse glasses or handheld viewers are safe? The AAS has done some legwork and identified...

After a 911 call for unknown trouble, officers arrive and find a man in distress, wielding some kind of object. Three words, known to those in law enforcement as the "police challenge," pierce the morning air. "Drop your weapon!" Seconds later, gunshots. It's an all-too-familiar scenario at coroner's inquests in Canada, according to some mental health experts. This week, a jury in Ontario is expected to reveal a list of recommendations that are supposed to give police the tools to respond effectively to civilians in crisis. The recommendations come after a weeks-long inquest into the fatal police shooting of Michael...

The Tesla Model 3 has arrived with a whoosh, leaving some tech and automotive writers breathless and blushing. Wired gasps its “much more than an electric car.” Mashable swoons the Model 3 is “pretty damn awesome.” Business Insider has a topper, saying “the entire world will want this car.” Others getting a few minutes behind the wheel — Tesla limited exposure — found it quite fetching. The first 30 cars were handed over to early supporters and employees Friday.