Free Republic

Filipinos vote on Monday in midterm polls that are being seen as a crucial referendum on Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, unorthodox style and contentious embrace of China. The poll is expected to strengthen his grip on power, opening the way for him to deliver on pledges to restore the death penalty and rewrite the constitution. Duterte has found international infamy for his foul-mouthed tirades, but remains hugely popular among Filipinos fed up with the country’s dysfunction and elite politicians. He wants to bring back capital punishment for drug-related crimes as part of a crackdown on narcotics in...

Just when we think that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) couldn't get any more anti-Semitic, she proves us wrong. Her latest remark is rather cringeworthy too. During an interview with Yahoo News' podcast "Skullduggery," she explained her take on the Holocaust. "There’s always kind of a calming feeling, I tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors — Palestinians — who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people's passports,"...

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ The USS Enterprise Info from here.             USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) departed Norfolk Naval Station March 11 on the ship's 22nd and final deployment. Enterprise is slated to deploy to the U.S. Navy's 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation as part of an ongoing rotation of U.S. forces supporting maritime security operations...

COLDSPRING, TX – Elected officials in an East Texas community defiantly illuminated the crosses on their courthouse after an atheist organization told them to take them down. The move came after the county judge and commissioners voted unanimously to keep the four crosses on the county building. Breitbart News reported that the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) complained to San Jacinto County public officials about the prominent display of the “Latin cross[es].” The self-described “state/church watchdog” claims it has over 30,000 members. The foundation issued an “Action Alert” to its supporters on May 7th saying, “A concerned Coldspring resident...

Sharia law in UK is now in penetration phase 4 (see Spread of Islam). UK now has over 3,000 mosques and converting empty church buildings into mosques has become one of UK's cottage industries. UK formally recognized Sharia law court in 2008 and the Archbishop of Canterbury - the head of Church of England - conceded that adopting elements of the Sharia law into UK's court system was "unavoidable. Today, UK has over 130 Sharia law courts. Although they technically lie within the UK's Tribunal Court system, these Sharia courts have been issuing rulings that contradict UK's common law.

As Spygate proceeds to its certain conclusion -- the trials of those who engaged in this scandalous coup attempt -- we receive the details of the scheme only in dribs and drabs. Too many were involved and have too much to lose at this point by not revealing to the investigators their role in exchange for more lenient treatment, which is why I believe all will soon be revealed. So for the moment let’s turn to the broader picture that explains in large part why so many officials were so determined to keep Donald Trump from the White House and...

GENEVA, May 12 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday the U.S. military presence in the Gulf used to be a serious threat but now represents a target, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. The U.S. military has sent forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East in a move that U.S. officials said was made to counter "clear indications" of threats from Iran to American forces in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln is replacing another carrier rotated out of the Gulf last month. "An aircraft carrier that has at...

If two rebuilding teams play a baseball game and no one was there to watch, did the game actually happen? The Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles put that to the test with a doubleheader Wednesday. If Game 1 was any indication, fans didn’t seem interested to watch two noncompetitive clubs go at it.

University of California Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo, the author of George W. Bush era “torture memos,” opined in the New York Times that President Donald Trump is taking executive authority too far with his response to congressional oversight. Yoo was quoted in the Times saying the across the board stonewall of congressional subpoenas to testify or supply information was “unusual” in that it is a “blanket refusal.” “It would be extraordinary if the president actually were to try to stop all congressional testimony on subpoenaed issues. That would actually be unprecedented if it were a complete ban,” Yoo said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Four commercial vessels were targeted by “sabotage operations” near the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates without causing casualties, the foreign ministry said on Sunday, without giving details of the nature of the sabotage.

While we and everyone else was dunking on Kamala Harris for the brand new, still creased apron she wore in this photo posted by her husband, we just realized that she’s cooking her own Mother’s Day meal:

Fourth Sunday of EasterLectionary: 51 Reading 1 Acts 13:14, 43-52 Paul and Barnabas continued on from Pergaand reached Antioch in Pisidia.On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaismfollowed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to themand urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God. On the following sabbath almost the whole city gatheredto hear the word of the Lord.When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousyand with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,“It was necessary that the...

When a retired New York woman left her $424,000 cashier’s check at a local pizzeria, she said she felt her “world just collapsed." That is, until an unlikely hero came to save the day: the very waiter she burned with no tip and a sassy note. After looking at a condo she hoped to buy, Karen Vinacour, her daughter and a real estate broker went to the historic Patsy’s Pizzeria in Manhattan to grab a slice of their signature brick-oven pizza — the same pizza enjoyed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Al Pacino and even Justin Bieber. Tucked in...

In an appearance on FNC's "MediaBuzz," pollster Frank Luntz shares his finding that the term "capitalism" no longer polls well with the American people and predicts that Senator Bernie Sanders is the most likely to win the Democratic nomination for president with a message of democratic socialism. "It is not that principles are dead, in fact, the principles of economic freedom are alive and well," Luntz explained. "But capitalism itself has been so demonized by media that... if you want to oppose socialism you oppose it by talking about freedom, not capitalism." HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS: An exclusive first look...

United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut John H. Durham indicted former New Haven resident Gary Joseph Gravelle, also known as Roland Prejean, for numerous malicious incidents of intimidation that mentioned use of explosives and bio-toxins, and for threatening to kill President Donald Trump, according to a release from the Department of Justice. According to the indictment, 51-year-old Gravelle has identified as a member of the white separate organization American Knights of Anarchy, or AKA. The indictment charges Gravelle with 16 counts, variously, of maliciously conveying false information about explosives, false information and hoax as well as threats to...

[Catholic Caucus] Dutch Priest Removed After He Criticized Homosexual Fornication Father Marc Massaer will leave his parish Sint-Christoffel in West Maas en Waal, Netherlands, on July 1. The background: Massaer was attacked by the pro-gay oligarch media after he criticized on December 26 the “indoctrination of gender ideology” and called homosexuality “radically opposed to the order of creation.” He belongs to the diocese of ’s-Hertogenbosch. This former conservative diocese has been led since 2016 by pro-gay bishop Gerard de Korte, 63. Massaer was ordered by his bishop to leave on short notice and to publish the news himself on the...

This is the latest in our apparently endless series of stories covering the destruction of competitive women’s sports by the introduction of “transgender women” into the events. This time we’re back to the sport of weightlifting. A transgender powerlifter named Mary Gregory recently “dominated” the field at a Powerlifting Federation competition last month, smashing four world records for that weight class in the process. This had the actual women competing in the event understandably upset and protests were lodged. But after an investigation was conducted, the federation chairman posted an announcement saying that the record lifts were being taken off...

Nigel Farage’s Brexit party is on course to secure more support at the European elections than the Tories and Labour combined, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

Stephen Montemayor reported in the Star Tribune Morning Hot Dish email newsletter earlier this week that Gov. Tim Walz and First Lady Gwen Walz hosted the first iftar dinner ever held in the governor’s residence on Tuesday: “Plans for the historic meal, which marks each day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, have been in the works for at least a couple months: Walz first announced his intent to use the residence to host such a meal in March during a conference on Islamophobia [sic]. A spokeswoman confirmed that scheduled attendees include Jaylani Hussein, executive director of...

Full title: Ocasio-Cortez Rebuffs ‘Fact-Checkers,’ Says The World Ending In 12 Years Was ‘Dry Humor’ Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complained Sunday that GOP fact-checkers were taking her “dry humor” literally. “This is a technique of the GOP, to take dry humor + sarcasm literally and ‘fact check’ it,” she tweeted. “Like the ‘world ending in 12 years’ thing, you’d have to have the social intelligence of a sea sponge to think it’s literal. But the GOP is basically Dwight from ‘The Office’ so who knows.” (AOC tweet) And when Ocasio-Cortez first made the claim, she certainly appeared to...