Free Republic

ACAPULCO, Mexico—It was the beginning of just another day in one of the world’s most murderous places. Cristian Sabino was sitting on a plastic chair by this beach resort’s central market when a gunman walked up and shot him five times. As the 22-year-old dropped to the ground, the assailant fired a final bullet to the head and walked away. Six more people would be killed that day in Acapulco, including a cabdriver who was hacked to pieces. Death is so much part of the landscape that once police cordoned off the area around Mr. Sabino’s body, some patrons at...

Fasten your seatbelts for one of the strangest union stories to come over the transom in a while. Back in 2013 (which is five years ago, for those who skipped math class), out in Fresno, California, the workers at farming corporation Gerawan Farming held a vote to determine whether or not they would decertify their membership in United Farm Workers (UFW), the union which had been representing them. The vote was held, and then… nothing. The union refused to release the results and even convinced a court arbiter that they could do so. They went on acting as the...

White House aides who steeled themselves for what President Donald Trump would say when he finally addressed the sexual assault allegation against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were quietly stunned when Trump said the process should be followed and the accuser should be heard. In recent days, Trump has bragged about the positive coverage he's received for his response, according to multiple sources. That response has contributed to him continuing to say Christine Blasey Ford should come forward with her story, they said. As of Thursday, officials felt confident Kavanaugh was back on track toward confirmation. Those who work...

CNN's Chris Cuomo might have his faults but one thing you have to say about him is he plays it down the middle with no obvious partisan agenda. You don't believe me? Why just ask him since it has been announced in the Hollywood Reporter that Cuomo will be hosting a call-in radio show starting this Monday on SiriusXM's "non-partisan" P.O.T.U.S. channel. Got that, everybody? Non-partisan.  If you dare cast aspersions upon Cuomo's claim about a lack of a political agenda, he tells us over and over again about how straight down the middle he plays it in contrast to...

Might Chuck Grassley soon receive an RSVP in the positive? Politico’s Anni Karni reports that Christine Blasey Ford has hired a new adviser, and it’s no political novice. Ricki Seidman, a longtime Democratic operative, has joined the team — potentially to assist Ford to “navigate a potential hearing”:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and comedian Dave Chappelle are among eight people being honored by Harvard University for their contributions to black history and culture, the university announced Thursday. All eight recipients of the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal will be honored by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard. "The medal honors those who have made significant contributions to African and African-American history and culture, and more broadly, individuals who advocate for intercultural understanding and human rights in an increasingly global and interconnected world," the Hutchins Center said.

The woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault has told the Senate Judiciary Committee, in an apparent bid to jump-start negotiations, that she “would be prepared to testify next week,” so long as senators offer “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,” according to an email her lawyers sent to committee staff members. In the email, obtained by The New York Times, the lawyer for Christine Blasey Ford said that testifying Monday — the timetable Republicans have set for a hearing — “is not possible and the Committee’s insistence that it occur then is...

The Evening Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is a great American and a fine senator. With the notable exception of his destructive obsession over preserving the ethanol subsidies and mandates that benefit his state’s corn farmers but distort all manner of markets and ruin thousands of engines every year, he is right on pretty much every issue and has been a stalwart warrior for truth, justice and what DC Comics used to admit was the American Way. But even this great American has found himself treading on very thin ice in his ongoing cowtowing...

There might be a couple of extra parsecs between future Star Wars films. Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed there will be a 'slowdown' of its Star Wars output, following disappointing returns on the Solo standalone. 'I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast,' he admitted to The Hollywood Reporter.

John Hancock, one of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, will stop underwriting traditional life insurance and instead sell only interactive policies that track fitness and health data through wearable devices and smartphones, the company said on Wednesday. The move by the 156-year-old insurer, owned by Canada's Manulife Financial Corp, marks a major shift for the company, which unveiled its first interactive life insurance policy in 2015. It is now applying the model across all of its life coverage. Interactive life insurance, pioneered by John Hancock's partner the Vitality Group, is already well-established in South Africa and Britain...

Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers, is being advised by Democratic operative Ricki Seidman. Seidman, a senior principal at TSD Communications, worked as Joe Biden’s communications director during the 2008 general election campaign, after he was named Barack Obama’s running mate. In 2009, according to her online biography, she helped the White House manage the confirmation of Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

A decades old unverified sexual allegation made by Christine Blasely-Ford has generated over $135,000 of spending money in less than 48 hours. Despite Blasely refusing to provide any evidence of truth, GofundMe donors have generously compensated Blasely for 'her troubles.' What a Fraud! A last minute appeal to torpedo the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh's to the Supreme Court has apparently resulted in some backlash for the accuser. One has to wonder if this convenient 'charity' reimbursement plan was part of the democrats' scheme from the get-go. Those wishing to donate through GofundMe would be encouraged to donate to actual...

Giving Christine Blasey Ford the opportunity to testify about her unsubstantiated accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is, somehow, silencing her, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (R-NY) declared Wednesday night. Refusing to launch an FBI investigation into Ford’s claims is also “silencing her,” Sen. Gillibrand said in a tweet: “Denying Dr. Ford an FBI investigation is silencing her. Forcing her into a sham hearing is silencing her. And pushing through Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is silencing her.”

Nellie Ohr, the wife of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, is refusing to appear before Congress for a closed-door hearing that was scheduled to take place this Friday, sources tell The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Charles Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, seem determined to call a vote next week on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, even in the face of this week’s sexual assault allegations against him. Senate Republicans assume, correctly, that if they can hold the party line, his installation on the Supreme Court is a sure thing. This is certainly true — even if the Democratic caucus in the Senate holds firm against Mr. Kavanaugh, they simply lack the votes to block him....

Two politicians not known for brevity will face off at 6 p.m on statewide television. When Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic opponent, Beto O’Rourke, face off in their first debate Friday, watch as two long-winded politicians struggle for brevity. This past weekend, a reporter asked Cruz a simple question about Hurricane Harvey. His answer lasted 3 minutes, 57 seconds—which is forever on television. O’Rourke recently used 3 minutes, 38 seconds to give his defense of National Football League players taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against blacks. The abridged version of...

According to an email sent by Ford's lawyers and obtained by The New York Times, she would appear as long as senators provide “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety." In the letter Thursday, Ford's attorneys wrote that it “is not possible" for Ford to testify on Monday. The lawyers added that "the Committee’s insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event.”

A federal judge in Florida has decreed that 32 large county election officials must provide Spanish-language ballots, sample ballots and polling places with posted notices — a decision that will drive up the Democratic vote and perhaps provide the difference in close Midterms, including for Congress. The order by Chief Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee is in response to the tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans who moved to Florida after Hurricane Maria last year. He wrote that not providing Spanish-language ballots to eligible voters would be a violation of the Voting Rights Act. “Puerto Ricans are American citizens,” Walker...

The Huffington Post is supposed to be a conduit for the minds of the left, ranging from the sensible to the completely insane, to spill their guts onto the internet, and allow other leftists to gather and bask in the warm glow of their own word vomit. At this moment, the hot topic is Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and HuffPo has been dutifully banging the drum for the leftist narrative. For the writers at HuffPo, Kavanaugh is guilty of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford is a victim, and Republicans know it, they’re just too sexist to admit it. However,...

NFL LIVE THREAD Week 3 THURSDAY, SEP 20, 2018 (All Times Eastern) N.Y. Jets at Cleveland 8:20 pm NFLN FirstEnergy Stadium SUNDAY, SEP 23, 2018 Buffalo at Minnesota 1:00 pm CBS U.S. Bank Stadium Cincinnati at Carolina 1:00 pm CBS Bank of America Stadium Denver at Baltimore 1:00 pm CBS M&T Bank Stadium Green Bay at Washington 1:00 pm FOX FedEx Field Indianapolis at Philadelphia 1:00 pm FOX Lincoln Financial Field New Orleans at Atlanta 1:00 pm FOX Mercedes-Benz Stadium N.Y. Giants at Houston 1:00 pm FOX NRG Stadium Tickets Oakland at Miami 1:00 pm CBS Hard Rock Stadium San...