Free Republic

Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Friday that if elected U.S. president she would seek to break up tech companies Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc as part of a structural change to the sector aimed at promoting competition. Warren, who is seeking to stand out in a Democratic field crowded with progressives, said in a blog post that the companies have been allowed to purchase potential competitors, like Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. “They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses...

Chief Justice John Roberts’ recent votes with the liberal members of the Supreme Court have given rise to speculation he has become the court’s new swing vote, but court watchers say he has not suddenly moved to the Left. Instead, the chief justice, 64, now sits at the middle of the court and is working to shield it from accusations the justices are politically motivated, they say. Analysts characterize Roberts as an institutionalist who cares about protecting the Supreme Court’s reputation, and they note that while he has joined the liberal justices, his votes were primarily on procedural motions rather...

Former Vice President Joe Biden is most likely going to run in 2020. He’s prepping. He’s laying down the groundwork. And Democrats are either unenthused, thinking his time is done (or that he’s a relic of the past), or impatient—some viewing him as a stabilizing force in a field that’s far left, unknown, and rapidly becoming a clown car. Biden's word choice could also pose a problem with a new generation of Democrats who view the rhetoric at the time as perpetuating harmful myths about the black community. They are beyond the pale many of those people, beyond the pale,"...

Newly revealed emails show Trump dossier author Christopher Steele was uneasy when President Trump fired Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in January 2017. In a brief correspondence between Steele and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Steele pressed for a back-up plan to be put in place if his backchannel to the FBI was ever placed in jeopardy. "B, doubtless a sad and crazy day for you re-SY [Sally Yates]. Just wanted to check you are OK, still in situ and able to help locally as discussed, along with your Bureau colleagues, with our guy if the need arises? Many Thanks...

After surviving several assassination attempts by French partisans of Algérie Française, Charles de Gaulle in March 1962 signed a peace agreement ending French sovereignty over Algeria. The war for Algerian independence had been long and vicious, marked by terrorism and torture. Everyone who mattered in French politics believed in 1954 that Algeria was an integral part of France, to be defended at all cost. But by 1962, their view had changed. With cold realism, de Gaulle remarked of the conflict, now in its seventh year, “As for France, it will be necessary for her now to interest herself in something...

As their desperate search for collusion continues, Democrats want to interview 81 people. Try this list instead. Funny how things change. The Washington Post couldn’t say a nice thing about congressional Republican efforts to investigate the Obama administration and FBI shenanigans that occurred before and after the 2016 election. That’s if they even covered these efforts at all. But with Democrats controlling the House, and that legislative body’s subpoena power, the establishment media’s line has changed. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have just sent letters to 81 people, all associated with President Trump or the Russia probe, demanding answers...

Blue collar no more: Skilled auto technicians are in high demand The tight labor market can be a boon for blue-collar workers: They are more likely to find good-paying jobs and experience rapid wage growth. More employers are trying to tackle the aversion to manual labor jobs by offering workers higher salaries, tuition reimbursement and apprenticeship programs. Technology is also transforming blue-collar workplaces, making more advanced skills in demand.... Across the country there are more drivers on the road, and many of them hanging on to their vehicles longer than ever. That means workers like Michael Gerhart are in demand....

Amazon finally caved to pressure for a company-wide $15 minimum wage in November. At Whole Foods, the difference looks to be made up in cuts to scheduled hours. According to reports by the Guardian, employees — who remained anonymous in fear of retaliation — have experienced “significant” decreases to their scheduled hours. In many cases, this negates or even supersedes the increased hourly rate. Employees report a “30% reduction in hours per week for part-timers and about a 10% reduction for full-timers,” with one Illinois-based employee specifically saying that after the raise, his “hours went from 30 to 20 a...

Zachary Greenberg, the man who allegedly attacked conservative activist Hayden Williams at UC Berkeley, had his firearms confiscated because of a restraining order against him, according to Williams’ lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon. In video of the alleged altercation, Greenberg appeared to attack Williams on Feb. 19, despite not being a student at the school. He pleaded not guilty to three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge. Dhillon released the new information during a Wednesday interview with Tucker Carlson.

Did your grandparents have food allergies? Mine sure didn’t. A stark comparison to the growing epidemic of food allergies, worsening with every generation. So why didn’t your grandparents have food allergies? It’s really quite simple… 1) THEY ATE SEASONAL REAL FOOD. Food came from farms and small markets in the early 1900’s, and because food preservatives were not widely used yet, food was fresh. Because of the lack of processed food, their diets were nutrient dense, allowing them to get the nutrition they needed from their food. For babies, breast milk was valued and it was always in season. 2)...

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would see its $2.3 billion budget slashed by about 70 percent, to $700 million, under President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget request, which is set to be released on Monday.

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Besmirches and Humiliates our Spotless Mother, the Holy Catholic Church The Church The technique is old: the criminal accuses the innocent in order to create the impression that all are to blame. "In this they are accusing the Church of something for which their own conscience plainly reproaches them," as Saint Pius X warned about the Modernists in Pascendi. In a meeting with the clergy of Rome in the Lateran Basilica yesterday, the Bishop of the City, Francis, had the temerity to say this while discussing the abuse crisis, of which he is surely a protagonist:...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Old Testament) 1 Samuel 11 Saul Confirmed as King 12 The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.” 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There...

The Labor Department released its monthly hiring and unemployment figures for February on Friday morning, providing one of the better snapshots of the state of the American economy. â–  20,000 jobs were added last month. Analysts had expected a gain of about 175,000, according to MarketWatch. It was the 101st straight month of job gains, but the weakest report since September 2017. â–  The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent. It was 4 percent in January. â–  Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4 percent after growing by 0.1 percent in January. The year-over-year gain is now 3.4 percent. Putting the weakness...

After a week of brutal infighting over how to best respond to allegations of anti-Semitism, Democrats on Thursday presented a compromise that seemed unlikely to offend anyone: a resolution condemning bigotry and "hateful expressions of intolerance." Then, in an unexpected turn of events, 23 Republicans decided to vote against it.

An evangelical university in Minnesota has blocked a conservative student group from hosting a lecture by African-American pro-life activist Star Parker because of her “radically” held beliefs. The University of Northwestern – St. Paul informed its chapter of Young America’s Foundation, a conservative student group, last month that it could not hold an open event featuring the 62-year-old conservative activist. Parker is the founder of the 800-pastor network Center for Urban Renewal and Education and has long argued that the conservative agenda of traditional values, limited government and free markets are the greatest benefit to low-income Americans, especially African-Americans, in...

Part of the jet’s landing gear ripped away and ended up wedged in the cowling of one of the turbofan engines. The nose cone also was damaged.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez cost 25,000 Amazon jobs that New Yorkers could ill afford to lose. The year that Cortez won her election, New York suffered the worst population decline of any other state. Why are they leaving? Some, like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s mother, are leaving because of high taxes. “I was paying $10,000 a year in real estate taxes up north. I’m paying $600 a year in Florida," Blanca Ocasio-Cortez explained. Some claim that nobody leaves New York because of the taxes. Cortez’s mother proves them wrong. But millennials are leaving in record numbers because there are no jobs....

“On both sides it should be called out,” she said about hate crimes in the US. “And just because I don’t technically have Jewish family that are blood-related to me doesn’t mean that I don’t take this as seriously, and it is very dangerous, very dangerous. … What Ilhan Omar is saying is very scary to me,” she said. Enlarge ImageMehdi Hasan Mehdi HasanTwitter “And it’s very scary to a lot of people, and I don’t think you have to be Jewish to recognize that.” But Omar defiantly lashed back by retweeting a post by Medhi Hasan, an Intercept columnist...

Just when you thought MSNBC couldn't get any more vulgar, along comes Donny Deutsch this morning to suggest that the judge who yesterday sentenced Paul Manafort had a "hard-on" against the Mueller investigation.For those unfamiliar with the expression, in this context it would mean that the judge held a grudge against the investigation. But the origin of the phrase is, of course, of a graphically sexual nature. Get the res of the story and view the video here.