Free Republic

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to stop US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by technology firms that pose a national security risk. The order paves the way for a ban on doing business with China's Huawei, though it did not name specific countries or companies. Such action was under consideration for more than a year, but was repeatedly delayed. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the president has the authority to regulate business decisions in response to a clear national threat, and the "national emergency" declaration directs the US Department of Commerce...

In a move that has the supermarket industry scratching its head, the United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, is singing its own praises for negotiating a wage increase that is already common practice among some of the largest non-union businesses.Last month, Kroger stores in Kentucky and southern Indiana agreed to increase wages for part-time workers and new hires to $10 an hour, keeping one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains in line with its competitors on employee pay.It’s the same song, different day for union leaders who think they deserve reward and recognition for implementing changes that business executives and...

It’s worth noting that even in the Jetson’s future world of flying cars a driver was still required. That’s because the Jetsons lived in a world where technology may have advanced but the fundamental elements of human nature remained the same. Which is to say most humans like to be in control. Driving gives us that sense, we can’t control the other idiots on the road but we can control how we maneuver around their stupidity. And that may be why we may actually be closer to the flying car than the driverless car. Warning: the images in your rearview...

The New London police department has expanded its investigation into misconduct in the school district, even as the district moves to suspend more employees. The district already had confirmed the suspension of four people directly related to an ongoing investigation into Corriche Gaskin, the 35-year-old former behavioral specialist accused of sexually assaulting an underage teen and using a cellphone to record his sexual encounters with fellow teachers inside Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in the 2016-17 school year. There are five additional employees out on paid administrative leave based on allegations not directly related to Gaskin’s criminal case. Three of...

The American Lung Association (ALA) has revived its smear campaign against the Pittsburgh region’s air quality with the release of its latest hyped up “State of the Air” report. “Fear-mongering” and “disingenuous” is an apropos way to characterize the ALA’s annual exercise in misrepresenting and/or ignoring data to issue dire health predictions, says the president-emeritus of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The problem for the ALA is that the health experience in states with widely disparate pollution levels does not match up with its rhetoric,” says Jake Haulk, also a senior advisor at the Pittsburgh think tank (in Policy...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Jabba The Nadler keeps setting deadlines, and they just keep getting ignored. – House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler is very fond of “deadlines.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear to realize he has no authority to enforce most of them. Oh, wait, before we get into this, watch Nadler smack his way through a breakfast interview with Democrat activist John Harwood, if you can stand it.: For those of you who still like to read stuff, here is the transcript, courtesy of Rush Limbaugh: NADLER: (restaurant noise) (lips smack) It’s… I mean, the right…...

Scott Morrison has swept to victory in a sensational federal election result that defied the polls and cements the Coalition’s power. The Coalition is on track to win government, fending off Labor and Bill Shorten’s efforts to take over as prime minister. As it stands, the Coalition is headed to form a minority government at least, but could still reach the 76 seats needed to form a majority government. The bombshell triumph comes after repeated polls placed the ALP ahead of the Morrison government, and the Prime Minister’s demise appeared assured. Swings to the Coalition in Queensland turned the election...

“‘Our Father who is in heaven . . .’” (Matthew 6:9). Knowing God as our Father carries with it a definite list of spiritual privileges and benefits. First, it means we need not fear, as pagans do before their false gods or unbelievers do in their agnosticism. Second, real knowledge of God resolves uncertainties and gives us hope. A good earthly father does what it takes to protect and provide for his children; so our heavenly Father does much more to love and sustain His children (cf. Matt. 7:11; John 10:29; 14:21). Third, knowing the Father alleviates loneliness. Family, friends,...

Antony Green predicts the Coalition will win the federal election but cannot say whether it will have a majority or minority government.

Control mobility – free movement – and you have controlled the population. Their other rights are automatically cheapened into functional irrelevance if the right to come and go without permission and free from interference is denied.And so it has been.It took a couple of generations, but most Americans seem to implicitly accept the idea that travel  – even on foot – is a conditional privilege conferred (and legitimately regulated) by “the government.” Which of course is just an evasive euphemism for the busybodies and control freaks who have somehow acquired a legal monopoly on the use of force –...

The next #ProtestPP event is a National Stericycle Protest to be held on Wednesday, May 22, calling on the waste disposal company to DROP Planned Parenthood and stop picking up the remains of aborted children. First, check the list of current protest locations. If you don’t see a protest nearby, sign on to host one! Fill out the form below to sign up. To find the nearest Stericycle location, do a Google Maps search for Stericycle, and then verify the location by making a visit to the site. If you’re interested in hosting a protest but have not verified the...

... Atchison County, my small farming community in northwest Missouri, is home to about 5,000 people. One hundred thousand acres of soybeans are planted here each year. The drop in soybean prices has meant a loss of around $100 in potential income on each of those acres. Atchison County farmers will be looking at a decline of $10 million in gross income this year, or about $2,000 per capita. We won’t be buying many Whirlpool washers. Supporters of the tariffs begin each conversation with a litany of Chinese wrongs. They say China ignores the rules governing international trade and is...

On May 22, #ProtestPP is coordinating a National Stericycle Protest, calling on the waste disposal company to DUMP Planned Parenthood, and stop hauling the remains of aborted children. A large protest will be held outside the annual Stericycle Stockholders Meeting in Chicago, with concurrent protests at Stericycle facilities nationwide. Local teams are currently being sought to organize protests outside Stericycle sites across the country. Protest locations will be listed here soon. Let us know if you would like to sign on to lead a Stericycle Protest in your area. Support #ProtestPP with a Gift Coordinating protests and vigils throughout the...

China is a big country, with a huge population. At any given minute there are all kinds of things going on, from the curious to the absurd. That’s pretty much what makes travel so enticing. You are exposed to new ideas and new ways of doing things. These new ways might be better or worse. Yet, the fact that they are different adds value to your experience. If the new experience is better, then you can see where your previous assumptions might be wrong. This is what happens when you move out of your “comfort zone”. You learn that what...

Announcing The National Protest Against Stericycle with Guest Eric Scheidler MAY 22, 2019

U.S. pro-life leaders are joining forces to hold a simultaneous national protest this month against America’s largest waste hauler for repeatedly being caught helping Planned Parenthood dispose of the bodies of aborted babies, even though the waste hauler denies any involvement. Despite the official Stericycle policy against hauling fetal remains, the company continues to pick up at Planned Parenthood facilities, the group of pro-life leaders say, and state investigators have determined that these pick-ups include fetal remains. Thus, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society (CPLS), Created Equal, and Pro-Life Action League are organizing a major protest at the Stericycle annual stockholders...

Excavations at the Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico, have revealed that indigenous Acolhuas peoples captured a caravan of 550 conquistadors and their allies in 1520, kept them in captivity, and ate them over a period of nine months. And new research suggests that these acts were not random; it seems the Acolhuas people were re-creating their creation myths. Who were the Acolhuas’ Sacrificial Victims? Hernán Cortés , the Spanish usurper of Mexico at the time, was in the caravan to Tenochtitlan but rode ahead to help put down a rebellion in Mexico City before the Acolhuas party struck. The...

Today’s Cryptogram WN RTY ZOLEWMO CFLC RTY FLUO OITYHF, RTY LZO CZYER ZWGF---ELT CMY Today’s CG is courtesy of the Arkansas Gazette. You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated....

We have a good news-bad news situation on our hands when it comes to defense spending. The good news is, it’s heading in the right direction: up. The bad news is, it remains too low to fix the spending holiday that afflicted our military for years — a failure to fund that has seriously compromised our readiness levels. Budget numbers released by Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, look impressive at first glance: $622 billion for the base defense discretionary budget. That’s an increase of 2.3 percent over the last budget the House passed. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Once...

Tensions between House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and ranking member Rep. Patrick McHenry, R.-N.C., reportedly overflowed Thursday during a hearing with bank regulators. Waters abruptly ended the nearly three-and-a-half hour session with little warning, Republicans complained, while McHenry and at least one Democrat still wanted to ask questions, Politico reported. Waters rebuffed McHenry’s request for more time, saying she wanted to keep her time commitment to the bank regulators, the Washington Examiner reported. "If a mistake was made and you were not notified, we will deal with that later,” she said.