Free Republic

Congressional Management Foundation honors six others for behind-the-scenes service The Congressional Management Foundation will honor the late Sen. John McCain and longtime Rep. John D. Dingell, two Capitol Hill legends who died within the past year, with lifetime achievement democracy awards next month. The nonpartisan group, which has been around since 1977 and says it aims to make Congress more effective, also selected a bipartisan slate of six lawmakers to honor for such behind-the-scenes efforts as constituent service. Though not exactly the Oscars for Congress, the awards toast lawmakers and congressional aides for work to improve government transparency and to...

President Trump’s disruptive style of politics was never going to be an easy sell in Washington. In a city where ossified norms are treated like monuments to American politics’ former glory, the president’s rebellious, smash the idols style, to say nothing of the fact that his agenda aimed to smash all the idols of DC groupthink, was anything but an obvious fit. Making the process even more difficult was the fact that any administration will have its policy defined by its personnel, and the number of personnel available who could both pass a Senate confirmation, and who would be...

MTV is breaking down barriers regarding sexuality and has announced its dating show cast this year will be the first ever in United States to all identify as sexually fluid. In June, the broadcast network will air another season of 'Are You The One?' — which stars 16 men and women in their 20s, who will be dropped off in Hawaii in hopes of finding the 'perfect match' while also competing for a $1 million grand prize. The cast members this year, though, are exclusively singles who identify as sexually fluid, meaning gender does not limit their options when finding...

At first glance you might think that the Democratic presidential campaign is boiling over with one new idea after another. Free health care. Free education. No more carbon emissions. There have been so many pronouncements, it’s hard to keep track of them.But that’s just at first glance. If you delve deeper, you will discover these are not ideas at all. They are feelings. Strongly held feelings, mind you. But feelings, nonetheless.Take health care. There is only one interesting public policy question there: If we paid for care in a different way (for example, through taxes instead of fees for services...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) condemned President Trump's new tariffs on Mexico late Thursday, calling the move a "misuse" of presidential tariff authority and cautioning the levies could derail passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). "Trade policy and border security are separate issues. This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent," Grassley said in a statement. The lawmaker cautioned that following through on Trump's tariff threat "would seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA," a revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "I support nearly every one of President Trump’s immigration policies,...

The European club season reaches the climax this weekend with the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. It is the first all-Premier League Champions League final since Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow in 2008. Liverpool finished 2nd in the Premier League with 97 points, just one fewer than champions Manchester City. Tottenham stumbled into 4th position with a haul of 71 points, one point less than Chelsea and one point more than Arsenal. Liverpool and Spurs played each other twice in the Premier League with Liverpool winning 2-1 each time.

Was there ever a more useless press conference than that convened yesterday by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller? Words that came to mind as I watched the travesty were: unnecessary, irresponsible, and perhaps calculating. The first words out of Mueller’s mouth indicated that he had nothing to say that hadn’t already been said in his 400-plus page report. Well, then why did he organize a press conference? If everything he had to say had already been said, then there was absolutely no reason for him to jump in front of the media. If he had a presser, he should have...

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd is calling for the hiring of “babysitters” to take care of migrant children after revealing that border agents have been forced to look after illegal immigrant minors while in custody. Judd spoke with The Daily Caller and said, “I was just in the RGV [Rio Grande Valley]. I did a 30-day deployment to RGV and one of the assignments that we had was babysitting. Border patrol agents were babysitting children, and so do we need to hire people so that we can free up our law enforcement agents and officers to do their...

... Only months ago Mr. Trump signed a new trade pact with Mexico and Canada to replace Nafta. The deal reassured financial markets. But now he whacks Mexico with unilateral tariffs that violate Nafta and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Other national leaders can be forgiven for concluding that any trade deal with Mr. Trump is subject to revision on his personal political whim. The tariffs could also complicate passage of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada deal in Congress. Mr. Trump is invoking a 1977 statute—the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—to impose the tariffs after declaring an emergency. The Congressional Research Service...

In the course of the past few weeks, Thom Tillis has worked to solidify his standing amongst the Trump wing of the Republican Party, insofar as there is any other wing at this point. Unfortunately for him, it looks like a lost cause. Mark Walker, the prominent conservative North Carolina Congressman, is openly weighing a primary. Some folks on the inside say he isn’t going to do it, and others say he’s 100% in. So time will tell. Either way, politicians enjoy attention and sometimes, enough chatter about a potential run leads one into the race. Mark Walker is the...

This will be a weekly post. Count remains at 112 judges confirmed. 69 District Court judges 41 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices

The government of French President Emmanuel Macron is appealing the decision to stop the removal of food and water from quadriplegic hospital patient Vincent Lambert..... In Missouri a judge allowing the states last abortion clinic to remain open while a request for a permanent injunction is considered..... 12 are dead and the shooter killed by police in Virginia Beach, Virginia.... Mohamed Hichem M is the name of the suspect in last Friday's parcel bombing in Lyon, France...... In Morocco Abdessamad Ejjoud is one of three men who pledge allegiance to the Islamic State and is one of 24 men accused...

The story of the French police under investigation for attacking Yellow Vests protesters over the last six months has been in the news this week. One officer being investigated for charging into a 73-year old protester in Nice on March 23rd told investigators that he is: "sincerely sorry" for what happened to the protester. But also noted that his charge into the protesters was: "lawfully ordered" Genevieve Legay suffered fractured ribs, a broken skull and was knocked unconscious for a brief time as a result of the officer's charge.......

I have been working on a knowledge base of topics related to prepping and SHTF situations. It is geared towards making people more self sufficient with topics ranging from unarmed self defense to small space gardening to how to sew your own clothes. I'm one of those types of people who believe that we are going to go out with a whimper, not a bang, so there is a lot of content on how to do your own repairs, build your own stuff and live a more frugal lifestyle. In order to get access you need to send me a...

The Home Secretary would like to see the UK exiting the EU by the current Article 50 deadline of October 31, according to his allies. Mr Javid joins Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom in wanting to put the no deal option back on the table. The Bromsgrove MP said he believes the results of the European and local elections have made it clear that Parliament would allow a no deal Brexit, according to The Daily Telegraph.However, he said the prospect of a no deal Brexit could only go ahead providing the necessary preparations were made....

Paula Bohovesky, aspiring actress and high school honor student. New York state lawmakers are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to block the release of a man convicted in the 1980 murder of a 16-year-old girl in a crime so depraved it stunned law enforcement and shook a close-knit community to its core. Paula Bohovesky, an aspiring actress and high school honor student, was beaten, sexually assaulted and stabbed to death as she walked home from a local library in the quiet hamlet of Pearl River, N.Y., a village 40 miles north of New York City. A jury convicted Richard LaBarbera...

Former Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's statement this week that he "did not have confidence that the president did not commit a crime" violates Rule 3.8(f) of the American Bar Association's code of professional conduct. The rule states that "The prosecutor in a criminal case shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) excused this violation on the grounds that "special circumstances call for unprecedented actions. The 'innocent unless proven guilty' presumption may be a good approach in most cases, but prosecutors, especially Special...

A 5:38 minute video; that I enjoyed. (especially the end)

Federal prosecutors rebuffed a judge’s order to release by Friday highly classified transcripts of discussions that Michael T. Flynn, the president’s former national security adviser, had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. The transcripts between Mr. Flynn and Sergey I. Kislyak, formerly Russia’s top diplomat in the United States, were expected to show that they talked in December 2016 about sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia. Mr. Flynn initially denied those exchanges about sanctions both to Trump administration officials and the F.B.I. in the weeks after the discussions. The conversations prompted concerns among senior...

June 1 2019   Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr Reading 1 Acts 18:23-28 After staying in Antioch some time, Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence through the Galatian country and Phrygia, bringing strength to all the disciples. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila...