Free Republic

If you havenÂ’t taken a science course since high school or college decades ago, hereÂ’s some news: We know a lot less now about the basic makeup of the universe than we thought we did then. Several decades ago scientists knew the universe was expanding. They believed the expansion had to slow down. No astronomer had observed such slowing but it had to happen because the universe is full of matter, matter has gravity, and gravity pulls things together. In 1998, though, the Hubble Space Telescope let us look at very distant stars. It became apparent that the universe was...

Dubai: UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said at a press conference on Wednesday evening that the UAE was working with its partners to conclude the investigation into acts of sabotage against four oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah on Sunday. He added the country will show restraint and is committed to de-escalation during a “difficult situation” caused by Iranian behaviour in the region. He said the United States must have seen a certain threat to make its assessment on Iraq. Gargash said he would not speculate about who was behind Sunday’s sabotage acts on...

The 2020 presidential election started on the night Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Since that night, Democrats and their allies in the media have been working tirelessly to undermine his agenda and harm his standing with the American people. The Mueller investigation was a bogus two-year effort to sabotage President Trump and drive him from office. Fortunately, the scheme did not work, and most congressional Democrats realize that impeachment is unlikely and politically unpopular. With Mueller’s partisan and unfair probe now complete, Democrats are working overtime to harass President Trump through a variety of means such...

The Liberal Australian government pulls out a surprise win Down Under!! WTF!? Australia Election Results: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Seizes a Stunning Win. Scott Morrison, Australia’s conservative prime minister, scored a surprise victory in federal elections on Saturday, propelled by a populist wave — the “quiet Australians,” he termed it — resembling the force that has upended politics in the United States, Britain and beyond.The win stunned Australian election analysts — polls had pointed to a loss for Mr. Morrison’s coalition for months. But in the end, the prime minister confounded expectations suggesting that the country was ready for a...

Education is important. I want my young adult offspring to get into a great college or university.Sadly, my bribery fund is empty.Must she, then, rely only upon working hard for good grades and preparing for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)? No. There is a workaround: find a way to improve our family’s Adversity Score.“The College Board plans to assign an adversity score to every student who takes the SAT,” The Wall Street Journal reported last week, “to try to capture their social and economic background, jumping into the debate raging over race and class in college admissions.” This year, 50 colleges and universities,...

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud called for an emergency meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states and leaders of Arab League countries to discuss the security of the region and measures to enhance it, according to a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report late on Saturday. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences" in the region. The extraordinary meeting has been called following attack on the commercial maritime ships in the territorial...

When we read about farmers feeling the pinch in their profits due to the trade war with China, we think of farms and crops. A part of the economic story sometimes overlooked is that of companies who depend on agricultural sales, the companies that service farm communities, like Deere & Co. It was announced Friday that the company’s quarterly earnings missed Wall Street expectations. The agricultural equipment manufacturer is feeling the effects of the trade war between the U.S. and China. Since the beginning of the year, Deere stocks have declined 2% and nearly 1% in the past twelve...

For all the good press the green agenda gets in the mainstream media, voters in free countries across the globe are getting wise to just what this feelgood earth religion really about. Not green jobs, as President Obama liked to promise. Not lower emissions - just ask Germany about that one. Not saving the planet. Nope, just less money in one's pocket and more power in the government's hand reaching for it. The Heartland Institute's H. Sterling Burnett, writing for the Washington Examiner, has a good one on just what's going on globally, calling it 'backlash': From Alberta to Australia,...

ELMIRA, N.Y. — Lawmakers in New York are pushing legislation that could make it a crime to text and walk at the same time. A new bill proposed by the state senate would make it illegal for people to cross the street while staring at their cell phones, according to WABC. The news outlet reports there’s no clear evidence indicating that the use of personal electronics while walking causes accidents, but New York lawmakers are still considering fines for using them. Fines can range between $50 to $150 depending on the number of offenses.

President Trump urged Republicans to stay "UNITED" on abortion in series of tweets late Saturday night and wrote that he is "strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions - Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother." The tweets come just days after Alabama passed the country's most restrictive abortion law, which bans the procedure unless "abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk" to the woman. Mr. Trump tweeted "we have come very far in the last two years" by appointing 105 federal judges, but "we must stick together and win ... for Life in 2020."...

Fellow travelers in the media. Most of these have been recorded and are tailor-made for social media. The Onion has a library full of Biden buffoonery. So, despite the media’s best efforts, most of the gaffs will be (re)seen by large portions of the electorate. Second, pretend that the Obama presidency was an overwhelming success. Convincing the Democratic base will be easy. Independent, swing voters remain more skeptical. At some point the former VP will be asked to cite concrete examples. That soup is a bit thin. The failed ObamaCare experiment, a sluggish economy, flat wages and the rise...

The Talk Shows May 19th, 2019 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D(elusional)-Minn.(NOPE*), and Pat Toomey, R-Pa. The discussion panel will include Ben Domenech, Co-founder & Publisher of The Federalist, Julie Pace, Washington Bureau Chief Propagandist, The Associated Pressitudes, Katie Pavlich, Townhall Editor/ Fox News Contributor and Mo Elleithee, Executive Commissar & Director of Georgetown University's Institute of "Leftwing" Politics and Public Service/Fox News Contributor MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Bernie Sanders, I(diot)-Vt. (NOPE). The discussion panel includes Rich Lowry, National Never-Trumper Review, Janet Napolitano, Premier of the...

The Coalition is on track to form government in its own right as it leads in four of the remaining six undecided seats. To form majority government, the Coalition needs 76 seats. It is currently has 74 and, according to the ABC, the Coalition is currently ahead in Chisholm, Wentworth, Macquarie and Boothby. Opinion polls, critics and bookmakers all pointed towards a sweeping win for the Labor Party, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison defied the odds and has been handed another three years in power. The Coalition won despite 55 Newspolls in a row predicting they would lose - echoing...

WASHINGTON -- If there's one thing that tells you government in America is too big and unaccountable, it's when one branch of government stops another government from doing what it was set up to do, even if it's not the first agency's job. Case in point: Under President Barack Obama, the Food and Drug Administration stopped multiple states from carrying out executions because the agency had not approved the drugs they intended to use for lethal injection. Really. President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is changing that. On May 3, Steven Engel, head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel,...

(Reuters) - China's senior diplomat Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday that recent U.S. words and actions had harmed the interests of China and its enterprises, and that Washington should show restraint, China's foreign ministry said.

I get letters from liberal critics. Every time I report that President Donald Trump has saved the U.S. economy, they claim I'm lying. And conversely, every time I report Barack Obama ruined the U.S. economy, they claim I'm lying. Well, the proof is out. Liberals, as usual, are wrong. How many times can they be wrong and maintain any credibility? According to a new analysis by Pew Research -- based on hard facts -- the Obama years were a nightmare for the 50 states. That's exactly what I've been saying. And Trump's economic policies have saved those same 50...

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) knocked Joe Biden on Wednesday after the former vice president said the 1994 crime bill he helped write did not lead to mass incarceration. "I have a great deal of respect for Vice President Joe Biden, but I disagree with him," Harris, a former prosecutor, told reporters in New Hampshire. "That crime bill, that 1994 crime bill, it did contribute to mass incarceration in our country. It encouraged and was the first time that we had a federal three-strikes law. It funded the building of more prisons in the states. So, I disagree, sadly."

8th Place: A High School Girl’s Life After Transgender Students Join Her Sport When two high school athletes who were born male but identify as female took first and second place at Connecticut’s girls indoor track championship this year, it wasn’t just a local news story. To some, it was a story of triumph and courage. The winner, a junior from Bloomfield High School, set a girls state indoor record of 6.95 seconds in the 55-meter dash, and went on to win the New England titles in both the 55-meter dash and the 300-meter dash.

Our gospel tune this Sunday is Too Much Trouble by Barry Ward. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

What's it like to be inside a tornado as it's forming? Few people, if any, have experienced such a sensation, but Reed Timmer is now one who has -- and lived to talk about it after an extraordinary up-close encounter with a tornado on Friday evening.