Free Republic

These countries accounted for 93% of the total, with China, by itself, accounting for 61% of the U.S. trade deficit. Donald Trump was elected by the people who have borne the brunt of this policy failure, with a mandate to fix it. On Friday, President Donald Trump took a huge step toward doing just that. He raised the U.S. tariff rate from 10% to 25% on $200 billion per year worth of Chinese goods that were being imported into the United States. Back in July, when Trump had initially imposed the 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, China responded by imposing...

The second facility linked to jihadist Siraj Ibn Wahhaj. Authorities have discovered a second homegrown Muslim terrorist training facility owned by a terrorist organization presided over by the son of jihadist iman Siraj Ibn Wahhaj. The FBI found the camp near Tuskegee, Alabama, and reportedly described it as containing a “makeshift military-style obstacle course.” Details are few. Researchers at WPMI-TV, an NBC affiliate in Mobile, Alabama, uncovered the existence of the second facility after combing through legal documents and reported on it April 29 but the national media only picked up the story in recent days. The April 29 report...

It’s apparent to all but President Trump’s most deranged critics that Obama’s FBI was indeed spying on his campaign. So, it’s worth pointing out that, in addition to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane operation, the Obama administration was running another concurrent higher-level counterintelligence investigation into alleged Russian efforts to aid Trump’s campaign that hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention. Details of the second investigation were leaked by high-level Obama administration officials for a June 2017 Washington Post story headlined, “Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault”. The anonymously sourced accounts of meetings only attended by a handful of...

May 15 2019 « May 14 | May 16 » Wednesday of the Fourth Week of EasterLectionary: 281 Reading 1 Acts 12:24—13:5a The word of God continued to spread and grow. After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,they returned to Jerusalem,taking with them John, who is called Mark. Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,"Set apart for me Barnabas and Saulfor the work to...

MONSEY, N.Y. — An ultra-Orthodox rabbi falsely described the measles outbreak among Jews as part of an elaborate plan concocted by Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York to deflect attention from “more serious” diseases brought by Central American migrants. A pediatrician questioned whether Jews were being intentionally given “bad lots” of vaccines that ended up giving children a new strain of the virus. And Andrew Wakefield, the British doctor whose study linking measles vaccines with autism was widely discredited and condemned, appeared via Skype to offer an almost apocalyptic vision of a world in which vaccines were giving rise...

Lawrence Mower of the Palm Beach Post in 2014 filed a public records request for 20 years of data on Florida Lottery winners.After analyzing the data, he found something unusual: A small number of lottery players were winning hundreds of times at almost inconceivably long odds. A statistician compared one frequent winner’s feat to picking one star out of 50 galaxies and “then having your friend guess the same star on the first try.”ICYMI: Explosive BuzzFeed scoop raises eyebrowsMower’s subsequent exposé led to fraud investigations and major reforms in the Florida Lottery. His reporting found, among other things, that some players...

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.’” - John 8:34 Conduct an interview with Christians from a variety of different theological traditions, and all of them will almost certainly say yes to the following question: “Are human beings sinners?” The Bible’s teaching that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) is simply too clear for people to deny outright. Moreover, from our own experience, we are well aware of how often we and all other people (except Christ) transgress our Creator’s law. Few...

Friedman was returning from a speaking engagement in Columbus, Ohio, when he died suddenly at the Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday night, according to his family. He was 84. A nuclear physicist by training, Friedman had devoted his life to researching and investigating UFOs since the late 1960s. He was credited with bringing the 1947 Roswell Incident — the famous incident that gave rise to theories about UFOs and a U.S. military coverup — back into the mainstream conversation.

The “poll results” that you see are never, I repeat, never intended to reflect the voting plans, thinking, preferences, or views of any segment of the population.  “Polls” are intended to “push” you into voting, thinking, preferring or holding the view endorsed by the pollster - ipso fatso they are “push polls”.At one time the stock market put the “capital” in capitalism, now it serves as more of a slot machine in what has become Wall Street’s giant casino. And like every other gambling establishment it attracts more than its share of shady characters looking to manipulate, control and benefit...

In an attempt to de-Google my life, I recently disabled Play Services. Now, my Pixel 2 XL complains every time it can't "phone home." Google wants to contact Play Services (itself a rootkit) every time you receive a call. You'll see the notification/complaint several seconds before the phone rings. While driving with Maps, Google attempts to track you each time you enter a destination or cancel one as well as at regular intervals during your drive. Play Services also tries to track me at random times for no reason when I'm not using the phone. It tries to track you...

“The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility” (Proverbs 15:33).

A University of Bristol academic has succeeded where countless cryptographers, linguistics scholars and computer programs have failed—by cracking the code of the 'world's most mysterious text', the Voynich manuscript. Although the purpose and meaning of the manuscript had eluded scholars for over a century, it took Research Associate Dr. Gerard Cheshire two weeks, using a combination of lateral thinking and ingenuity, to identify the language and writing system of the famously inscrutable document. In his peer-reviewed paper, The Language and Writing System of MS408 (Voynich) Explained, published in the journal Romance Studies, Cheshire describes how he successfully deciphered the manuscript's...

When you think of qualification as it applies to firearms it normally means that there is some sort of score involved, as well as time limits and conditions. The conditions, number of shots sequence etc are very defined and spelled out in detail. For example, 25 years ago when I was qualifying for my job as a military police officer, we had to do such things as wait for the buzzer then draw and fire two shots in six seconds sort of thing. There were reloads thrown in and even a barricade to work around. We still knew exactly what...

“‘Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]” For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not...

What interactives can do (that articles can’t) It’s a tough time for interactives. Last year saw debates around whether the format is dead (or not) and it’s difficult not to notice an industry-wide trend away from interactive graphics using live code and towards static images and ai2html. There are many good reasons for this: better understanding of reader behaviour, a move away from confusing unstructured and nonlinear structures to linear ones, design limitations imposed by mobile devices, third-party platforms for redistributing articles — such as Google AMP or Facebook Instant Articles — that don’t support custom scripting and complex content,...

A new Emerson National Poll finds former Vice President Joe Biden with a bump from his official entrance into the race, taking back the lead over Senator Bernie Sanders. The poll finds Biden with 33% and Sanders with 25%. The April Emerson Poll had Sanders ahead of Biden 29% to 24% making this a 13 point swing in favor of the former Vice President. Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Elizabeth Warren are tied for 3rd with each getting 10% of the vote, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg rounds out the top 5 with 8%. No other candidate in the field clears...

NASA has announced that it will put a woman on the moon in the next five years, although a hefty bill is attached to the mission. [Reuters / Joey Roulette] This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo landing, and in celebration, NASA has announced a special name for the upcoming initiative. It will be called “Artemis,” the Greek goddess of the moon who is also Apollo’s twin sister. [The Verge / Loren Grush]The price tag isn’t cheap though: The space agency has asked for a$1.6 billion in addition to the $21 billion that has already been requested for...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) It’s gonna be all-smear all the time at CNN and MSNBC. – You can always tell what the fake news media’s marching orders from the DNC are on any given day by looking at what they’re doing on Twitter. Especially in the evenings, Twitter is always the leading indicator of where the next day’s narrative will be going. Last night, we got this little gem from @CNNPolitics: CNN Politics ✔ @CNNPolitics A federal prosecutor's "apolitical" reputation is on the line as he helps Attorney General Barr review the origins of the Russia...

The Democratic Republic of Congo's daily hell of poverty, assorted wars, ethnic antagonism, frail government institutions, porous borders, cultural superstitions, meddling neighbors and corrupt elites provide a one-stop-shop example of the wicked conditions afflicting the globe's less-developed regions, sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Unfortunately for all homo sapiens living within 200 kilometers or so of a major airport anywhere on this planet, the Ebola virus epidemic afflicting eastern Congo constitutes a deadly, international, mass-casualty threat to human life. And there are political predators who would like to see this plague seed global fear and death. Before I address that point, note...

The workers who assemble Apple iPhones make a starting wage of $3.15 per hour in the People's Republic of China, according to The New York Times. "Apple has said the starting pay for workers at the world's biggest iPhone factory, in Zhengzhou, China, is about $3.15 an hour," The Times reported in a story published two weeks ago. That $3.15 per hour is less than half the U.S. minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. That means a teenager working part-time serving Big Macs at a McDonald's in the American Midwest earns a far bigger hourly wage than a Chinese adult...