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When Trump took office, the Ninth Circuit had 19 Democratic appointees, only 6 Republican appointees, and four vacancies. In the last ten days, the U.S. Senate confirmed two Trump nominees, Kenneth Lee and Daniel Collins, with a third, Daniel Bress, awaiting a hearing Wednesday morning. If he is confirmed as expected by the Judiciary committee, Trump will have appointed seven judges to the Ninth Circuit, bringing the circuit close to a tipping point if, as Trump has often said, each judge rules in line with the views of the party that nominated them. There is one remaining vacancy, with eight...

Some of the most notable policy victories take time — and they seldom generate banner headlines. Take the Arms Trade Treaty. There’s an excellent chance that you’re saying, “The what?” There was a relatively minor ripple in the news cycle when President Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States from it. But believe me, it matters. And it was the right move. The Arms Trade Treaty probably sounded harmless enough to most people when the United Nations first voted on it about a decade ago. Its goal: “establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional...

Four more deaths have been reported on Everest as concerns grow about the risks posed by the severe overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain this year. Kevin Hynes, 56, from Ireland, died in his tent at 7,000 metres early on Friday, having turned back before reaching the summit. The father of two was part of a group from the UK-based 360 Expeditions. The climbing company said: “It is with the greatest sadness that we have to confirm that one of our Everest team has passed away. Kevin was one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team, and...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 112 judges confirmed. 69 District Court judges 41 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices The 9th Circuit composition is now 16 Democrat-appointed judges, 11 Republican-appointed judges, with two vacancies to fill. That's real progress!

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter once worked with a Romanian businessman who was convicted and imprisoned following an investigation over his real estate dealings. **SNIP** According to the New York Times, the younger Biden increased his international business efforts during his father’s second term as vice president and began associating with figures about whom the U.S. or its ally nations were suspicious. Hunter Biden reportedly began advising Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian businessman said to have opened the country's first Pizza Hut restaurant, who came under authorities’ scrutiny over his real estate dealings. **SNIP** Other reports concerning the son...

Qualifying starts Saturday at 6AM (PST). Race starts Sunday at 6:10AM (PST). I think ESPN One covers qualifying and the race, but I'm not 100% sure. At least two live streaming options, but both appear to be pay-for-view.

Something good happened in Congress this week.  One lone freshman representative from Texas stood up and blocked legislation that put the taxpayer on the hook for tens of billion in new spending without any concern for finding ways to pay for it.  Three cheers to Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).Congressman Roy stood up on the House floor and used the most powerful words a member can use to block legislation brought up under unanimous consent – “I object.”  In typical fashion, the main stream media will try to blame the victim, rather than the perp of this assault on the taxpayer....

“Cuba and the United States signed an agreement to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and other international criminal activities on the eve of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.” (Reuters, Jan. 2017)“Cuban security officials toured Key West drug-war center—A delegation of Cuban government national security officials recently toured the Pentagon’s counter-drug center in Key West (in May, 2016)— a first, signaling a nascent effort in U.S.-Cuban security cooperation. They got a briefing on the work that has been described as Southcom’s command center in the war on drugs.”“Cuba has kept drug trafficking, in check— the U.S. State Department’s...

At the top of the Newsdump the deployment of 1,500 more members of the US military to the Middle East. President Trump describes the deployment as: "relatively small"..... 13 injured after a suspected package bomb was detonated in Lyon, France.... The Yellow Vests march in Paris and other French cities Saturday.... President Trump declaring in essence a national emergency to sell eight billion dollars worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia.... President Trump headed to a financially powerful nation like Saudi Arabia for a state visit.... In spite of her tearful resignation announcement in front of Number 10 Downing Street Friday,...

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Saturday evening aboard Air Force One, kicking off his stay in Japan through Tuesday as the first state guest since the Reiwa era began at the start of this month.

24 hours before France goes to the polls in the European Parliament elections the Yellow Vests will again take to the streets of France. The numbers are down. Both the government and the Yellow Vests "The Yellow Number" agree but their statistics are vastly different. 15,500 if you believe the government's version of Week 27 but 42128 at 274 locations according to the Yellow Vests number. What the numbers will be this week remains to be seen. On the political front National Rally leader Marine Le Pen appealed for Yellow Vests support during the past week......

Today’s Cryptogram FESI TGIJ UEA REK'N KJJR NXJ YEKJU. TELJ TGIJ UEA'LJ KJLJS VJJK XASN. RZKQJ TGIJ KEVERU'B FZNQXGKO.----BZNQXJT MZGOJ Please note: I am fully aware that today’s quote has been attributed to many people including to no one, but the general consensus is that this person was most noted for it. No CG on Sunday as I’ll be in Naples, FL You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW...

Pomp and circumstance depends a lot more on circumstance than pomp. The 396 graduates of Morehouse College in Atlanta learned that in an unforgettable way the other day at their commencement ceremony. The graduates whooped it up with their families and friends, with plenty to whoop it up for. The commencement speaker surprised them with the announcement that he was going to pay off all their student loans. Robert F. Smith, a billionaire investor, certainly deserved his honorary degree, and the Class of '19 was suddenly freed from burdensome college debt, relieved of monthly payments on their loans. They could...

Join Freepers throughout the world to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Law Enforcement, Defenders of Freedom, Business, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems, the News, Media and Social Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14) Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. THERE IS HOPE. . . AND HIS NAME IS JESUS.

The Big Lie is back in style. Wikipedia tells us that the term was invented by Adolf Hitler to describe what others did -- though he was the biggest liar of all. "The broad masses of a nation," he wrote in "Mein Kampf," "more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie." No one on the political scene in this country or any democratic nation is a monster comparable to Hitler. But some have resorted to the Big Lie in their attempts to override clear decisions of the people, at the risk of delegitimizing the nation's democracy....

In George Orwell’s 1984, everyman Winston Smith is tortured and brainwashed into truly believing that 2+2=5. Orwell’s message was that an unfettered State would eventually maintain the population in such propaganda-induced fear of its power that people would deny objective reality. Such was the power of the Party and doublethink – it weakened individual liberty. Conform or else. By instilling fear in its subjects, the State crushes the intellectual notion of objective reality. So it goes with the Democrat’s passage of The Equality Act last week. The legislation adds “gender identity” to the list of protected classes under federal civil...

...As a conservative, I hope other conservatives join me in complaining about Trump’s golf costs. And I make the same complaint as an avid golfer. The problem isn’t that Trump likes golf, or that he finds at least some time to play it. Rogan is right that presidents need relief from the stresses of the job, and golf is a salutary diversion. And the problem isn’t that presidential golf costs more than golf by anybody else, because of course security and other considerations make it so by necessity. snip The president is not a potentate. The presidency does not carry...

It's a special edition of Louder with Crowder, as Bernie Sanders takes over for Steven. Talking Ben Carson and Oreos, milkshake attacks, cow kissing, and Bernie runs through just how bad the other Democrats are. The Great Mark Levin guests, and Half-Asian Bill Richmond sits third chair.

Bad guy didn’t expect store clerk to be packing heat – And now he’s paying the ultimate price…

In one of the most painfully awkward interviews in recent memory, progressive author Naomi Wolf appeared on the BBC 3 to promote her upcoming book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love — only to be informed by the interviewer that her soon-to-be-released work is entirely based on Wolf’s own misunderstanding of a dated legal term ..... During a radio interview with the BBC’s Matthew Sweet yesterday, Wolf — as well as the rest of the world — found out that her new book is wildly fallacious. The interview quickly went viral. “I found several dozen executions,” Wolf said...