Free Republic

California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters wouldn’t rule out the concept of an all-black political party when asked about it on Monday.

VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Achieves First Flight Aug 3, 2017 On July 28, the VH-92A configured test aircraft completed its first flight in support of the U.S. Marine Corps’ VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program. STRATFORD, Conn., Aug. 3, 2017 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced the first flight of a VH-92A configured test aircraft in support of the U.S. Marine Corps’ VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program. The July 28 flight signals the start of the 250 hour flight test program, which will take place at Lockheed Martin facilities in Owego, New York. The aircraft achieved its first flight, and later...

After the failure of the Senate to repeal Obamacare, a frustrated President Trump's threat to reverse President Obama's executive action exempting members of congress from having to live under the same regulations that apply to ordinary citizens forced into Obamacare brought howls of rage from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT). "We are members of government," Murphy fulminated. "For Trump to vindictively throw us into the pit with the common people violates the unwritten rule against one segment of this elite group harming the privileges of another. It would renege on the bipartisanship exhibited by President Obama in even handedly extending the...

Editor’s note: This is the 11th article in The Inter-Mountain’s Unsung Heroes series, which will feature veterans in our area and share first-hand accounts of their military service. The series will publish each Monday through Veterans Day. To suggest an Unsung Hero, call 304-636-2121, ext. 120. ELKINS — As a mechanic who served during the Cold War, a local veteran has fond memories of the time he spent in the U.S. Army. John Vallelonga, who has lived in Elkins since the early 1970s, said the Army gave him the experience he needed to move ahead in life. After graduating from...

Former Vice President Al Gore’s new film, “An Inconvenient Sequel”, came in a dismal 15th this weekend at U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. Gore’s defenders have been quick to blame Paramount Pictures for the dismal performance of Gore’s sequel. “Al Gore Gets Ripped Off Again,” screamed the headline of D.R. Tucker in Washington Monthly.View post “This was not supposed to happen,” Tucker wrote, adding, “he should have demanded a recount.” “Sadly, the box-office under-performance of An Inconvenient Sequel will be seized upon by climate-change deniers as ‘proof’ that Americans don’t really care about this issue,” Tucker wrote. According...

When, in November 2016, Nikki Haley was nominated U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Professor Charles Tiefer of the University of Baltimore reacted with outrage. "No one in the United Nations," Tiefer said, "will think that Haley is someone to talk to who will be either knowledgeable or close to the president." Tiefer must feel a bit stupid right now.

Thanks to a little-noticed auction sale, a South Bay couple are the proud owners of one of the most exclusive streets in San Francisco — and they’re looking for ways to make their purchase pay. Tina Lam and Michael Cheng snatched up Presidio Terrace — the block-long, private oval street lined by 35 megamillion-dollar mansions — for $90,000 and change in a city-run auction stemming from an unpaid tax bill. They outlasted several other bidders.

Wild pigs are perhaps the most destructive invasive species in the United States, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in damages every year to crops and property across the country, uprooting farmers' fields, degrading water quality and out-competing native wildlife for food. In the latest installment of AL.com's series on invasive species, we examine the feral hog, one of the costliest non-native species in Alabama, and what landowners and wildlife officials can do to keep their populations under control.

RUSH: Contrary to the image portrayed — and I understand it. The image portrayed on, quote-unquote, “the news” every day is that Trump is a buffoon, Trump’s an idiot, Trump’s a pig, and Trump is losing. “Trump’s being shamed, and we, the media and the left are winning.” That’s what is portrayed. That is left the image, that is the prism that they construct every day — and nothing could be further from the truth, folks. They aren’t winning. I know many of you are gonna, “Rush, they are! You can’t give people false hope like that.” I’m trying to...

... There are lots of reasons the partisan division has become so lopsided in favor of the GOP. The Democrats and their friends in the government departments of elite universities and on the editorial desk at the New York Times will say it's because the legislative district maps are drawn unfairly, because the votes of non-whites are suppressed in the South and in rural areas, and just about any other excuse they can think of to suggest the Republicans are cheating. In truth, the voters just aren't buying any more what the Democrats have to sell. The Democrats, from FDR...

Shortened title. Full title: Rod Rosenstein: Mueller needs to come to me if he wants to chase any crime outside scope of Russia probe If special counsel Robert Mueller finds any crime outside the scope of the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, then he'll have to seek permission, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Sunday. "Bob Mueller understands and I understand the specific scope of the investigation, and so no, it's not a fishing expedition," he told host Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." Rosenstein appointed Mueller to oversee the federal Russia probe, which includes a...

When Democrats think about their party’s problems on the political map, they tend to think of President Trump’s ability to win the White House despite losing the popular vote and Republicans’ potent efforts to gerrymander congressional districts. But their problems extend beyond the Electoral College and the House: The Senate hasn’t had such a strong pro-GOP bias since the ratification of direct Senate elections in 1913. Even if Democrats were to win every single 2018 House and Senate race for seats representing places that Hillary Clinton won or that Trump won by less than 3 percentage points — a pretty...

That the Trump presidency is bedeviled is undeniable. As President Donald Trump flew off for August at his Jersey club, there came word that Special Counsel Robert Mueller III had impaneled a grand jury and subpoenas were going out to Trump family and campaign associates. The jurors will be drawn from a pool of citizens in a city Hillary Clinton swept with 91 percent of the vote. Trump got 4 percent. Whatever indictments Mueller wants, Mueller gets. Thanks to a media that savages him ceaselessly, Trump is down to 33 percent approval in a Quinnipiac University poll and below 40...

Catholics have never been and never should be expected to dodge bullets in order to negotiate an enemy minefield in their search for truth in the hands of the Church’s shepherds. Teaching should be clear consistent and unambiguous. This Amoris Laetitia (AL) is not. Amoris Laetitia cannot be recommended reading for everyone because it is not safe. As a Catholic teaching document it is not sustainable and will one day have to be heavily edited and stringently corrected in order to be a reliable help to souls. We find ourselves in a situation of ecclesial disorientation where, for the first...

Erricka Bridgeford received a standing ovation from the congregation at Kingdom Life Church Sunday. Bridgeford, a special guest at the church in West Baltimore, and others had called for a 72-hour halt to the violence that has claimed the lives of more than 200 people in Baltimore so far this year — the fastest pace of violence in modern Baltimore history through July. Groups took the message to the streets, hosting dozens of events, staying out all night and offering food and services. The ceasefire was to end at midnight. Despite their efforts, four people were shot, two of them...

Jarrod Anthony Samra, a 23-year-old man from Yucaipa and former member of the county's Fire Explorer program, was arrested last week in a wildfire in the hills above Mentone. His vehicle was found near the Bryant fire, which burned about 300 acres, according to authorities. A firefighter was injured in one of the fires, which began more than a month ago. Samra faces eight counts of arson for eight different fires in the county, District Attorney Mike Ramos said. He was charged with one count of arson causing great bodily injury. Samra faces eight counts of arson for eight different...

An Atlanta rapper who previously claimed to have been shot on at least 11 different occasions — and who in December, after being wounded, proclaimed "God made me bulletproof" — was shot and killed Sunday, reports CBS affiliate WGCL. Jibril Abdur-Rahman, 28, who was better known as Yung Mazi, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside the Urban Pie pizza shop in Atlanta's Kirkwood neighborhood, police said. The restaurant was less than 200 feet from a police station. WGCL reports that officers heard the gunshots, but the perpetrator got away before police arrived. In a video posted to YouTube...

Why President Trump needs to fire his national security advisor.Many in the conservative media are urging President Trump to fire his national security advisor, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. McMaster should be fired forthwith, but the reasons being argued are subsidiary to the primary reasons McMaster has to go. The debate over McMaster has been framed in terms of his loyalty to Trump. Though loyalty to the president is important, McMasterÂ’s ideology and bad judgment are what make him unfit for the position. For eight years the Obama administration relentlessly politicized everything it touched. Those dedicated to ObamaÂ’s ideology were embedded...

“The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, issued by Pope Francis on March 19th 2016 and addressed to bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, Christian married couples, and all the lay faithful, has caused grief and confusion to many Catholics on account of its apparent disagreement with a number of teachings of the Catholic Church on faith and morals. This situation poses a grave danger to souls.” So begins the 13-page document sent by an international group of Catholic theologians, pastors, historians, and scholars “to every one of the Cardinals and Patriarchs, of whom there are 218 living at present.”Though the document was intended to be viewed...

Dear friends in Alabama, now is the time to stand up and be counted. Now is the time to tell the establishment in D.C. that we are tired of their moderate hand-wringing and their constant efforts to dictate to the people instead of serving the people. Senator Luther Strange (R-AL) has done a fine job in replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Senate, but he’s long been a tool of the establishment and we know where his loyalties lie. He was selected by the corrupt and disgraced former Governor of Alabama, not elected by the people of Alabama who...