Free Republic

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth senior is beating the odds and doing something she dreamed of from her hospital bed: walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma. Tonasia “Nada” Edwards suffered a traumatic brain injury after a Chesapeake car crash in 2017. Nada was behind the wheel when she got into an accident at the intersection of Deep Creek Boulevard and Military Highway in Chesapeake. Nada’s mother, Alice Edwards, says loved ones leaned on their faith while Nada was unconscious for about five months. Finally, on March 7, she got a call from the nurses...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may seem harmless, but she's a virtue signaler on steroids and a nonstop headline-manufacturing machine. The left adores her, and for conservatives, she's a gift that keeps on giving — because she is either too naive or arrogant to rein herself in. Don't listen to those who advise not to be roped into her spotlight-seeking trap. Give her all the attention she craves — and more rope. AOC conspicuously put her foot in her mouth again, but she clearly likes the taste of it because she refuses to remove it. "This administration has established concentration camps on...

It’s officially summer as of 11:54 a.m. ET today. I’ve reached an age where I no longer take this lightly as the road isn’t as long as it once seemed.So I follow the advice of the world weary – and who among us can’t be counted in that camp these days – get out there and enjoy this glorious season to the hilt. The long days, hot nights and farm fresh produce. It’s strawberry season (finally) here! That means shortcake. And jam.Wishing everyone an endless summer with a little less rain than normal.Carpe Diem! Now get out there and leave...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Huh. Guess he must have been hanging out with Bill Clinton. – Joe Biden’s wayward son, Hunter Biden, was sued yesterday by a 28 year-old woman in Arkansas for refusing to accept responsibility for the son he allegedly fathered with her. This is not a case of ancient history coming back to haunt him, either, as the child is just 10 months old. Even more disgustingly, the fathering of the child came during a time when the horndog Hunter was involved in a relationship with the widow of his late brother, Beau...

A group of US senators, including the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, received a classified briefing Wednesday about a series of reported encounters by the US Navy with unidentified aircraft, according to a congressional aide. "If pilots at Oceana or elsewhere are reporting flight hazards that interfere with training or put them at risk, then Senator Warner wants answers. It doesn't matter if it's weather balloons, little green men, or something else entirely — we can't ask our pilots to put their lives at risk unnecessarily," Rachel Cohen, the spokeswoman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, told CNN....

Democratic lawmakers warn that Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and other White House hopefuls taking shots at front-runner Joe Biden are playing with fire and could wind up helping President Trump win reelection. While there are disagreements about the former vice president in the Senate Democratic caucus, Democratic senators are rising to his defense after Booker demanded Biden apologize for recounting his collegial relationship with two segregationist former senators, James Eastland (D-Miss.) and Herman Talmadge (D-Ga.). Lawmakers fear the 2020 Democratic presidential primary field is becoming a circular firing squad, with Trump winding up as the beneficiary of internecine fighting. “I...

What if someone you hated offered to pay off your mortgage or put your kids through college? You'd be suspicious at first, of course. Why is an enemy giving you the gift of a lifetime? But in the end, if you were smart, you'd take it. It would be too good to pass up. Something very much like that happened in Washington, D.C., recently. The Trump administration debated moving some of the thousands of migrants now massing through our southern border into various self-proclaimed sanctuary cities across the United States. Talk about great news for blue America. The left tells...

One of the biggest questions surrounding the most recent known spate of UFO encounters with U.S. Navy pilots—those that occurred off the southeastern seaboard of the United States between 2014 and early 2015—pertains to how persistent they actually were. We know Super Hornet aircrews from Strike Fighter Squadron 11 (VFA-11), the Red Rippers, detected unknown objects multiple times on radar and one aircrew even had a close encounter visually with one of them, but what about the rest of the many Hornet squadrons based at Naval Air Station Oceana, not to mention the E-2 Hawkeye squadrons from nearby NAS Norfolk?...

The "New York Times" reported late Thursday that President Trump had approved military action against Iran and had pulled back from the decision..... "Iran made a very big mistake!" That's how President Trump sees Iran's shooting down of an American drone via Twitter..... Both the US and Iran confirmed the shoot down of the American drone..... The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that 108 airstrikes have been carried out in northwestern Syria.... We are now down to the final two candidates to be the next Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister... In Alabama Judge Roy Moore is in...

There are wars and rumors of war. And then there is Trump’s policy toward Iran, which fuels endless speculation. Despite much public handwringing over the announcement that the Pentagon is sending an additional 1,000 troops to the Gulf region, there are no signs the U.S. plans to escalate the stand-off with Tehran ... All of this is to say that the U.S. can establish a sustained presence in the Gulf with low risk, at a reasonable cost, keeping the waters open forever.

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A massive fire has erupted at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in Southwest Philadelphia shaking nearby homes and sending thick smoke into the air. Homes as far away as South Jersey were rocked by a series of explosions as the blaze, which erupted shortly after 4 a.m., burned. Some residents in Philadelphia said the explosions knocked art off their walls. The fire is contained on the property off Passyunk Avenue of the refinery, fire officials said shortly before 6 a.m. Authorities have not yet said if any workers were injured or not.

The Fed this week decided against immediate action while signaling it could cut rates later this summer if the economic picture grows darker. And Powell made clear that will turn in part on whether Trump escalates his trade war, which he framed as a chief menace to extending the economic expansion. (Please see full article at the link)

Full Headline: Exclusive: Trump warned Iran via Oman that U.S. attack was imminent, called for talks - Iranian officials DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent.

... On Thursday, responding to longstanding concerns that the system penalizes black and Hispanic students, Mr. de Blasio announced new rules that will limit arrests in schools for low-level offenses. In addition, it’s likely that the maximum amount of time for suspensions will be sharply reduced. For decades, city statistics have shown that the New York City school system has disciplined black and Hispanic students at higher rates than white and Asian children — an unsettling yet consistent feature of the nation’s largest school district. The new guidelines represent perhaps Mr. de Blasio’s most dramatic attempt to change how students...

WASHINGTON – Kristine Lucius, executive vice president for policy and government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance the nomination of Daniel Bress (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). “Bress, a young conservative ideologue, is the third nominee to the Ninth Circuit to advance over the objection of both Ranking Member Feinstein and Senator Harris this year alone. This unravelling of a long-established process is part of Trump’s efforts to reshape the courts and, in particular, to remake the Ninth Circuit, which has...

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nominations of seven candidates to serve as federal judges on district courts across New York State. For the Ninth Circuit, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Daniel Bress’ nomination in a party line vote setting the stage for a full Senate vote. California’s Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both members of the Judiciary Committee, came out publicly against the nomination in January in a joint statement saying that Bress was based in Washington, D.C. Ahead of the committee vote Thursday, Feinstein said she could not support Bress’s nomination, because he is...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday tried to downplay the controversy surrounding former Vice President Joe Biden touting his work with segregationist senators as an example of "civility." "I think that authenticity is the most important characteristic that candidates have to convey to the American people and Joe Biden is authentic," Pelosi told reporters at a press conference in the Capitol. "He considers certain things a resource, that he has worked across the aisle. That's what he was saying." Pelosi neither criticized nor explicitly defended Biden, but in addition to describing him as "authentic," she noted he has support among...

President Donald Trump has the right goal in mind to settle ongoing trade issues with China, but his approach could have far-reaching consequences on the U.S. economy, Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz told CNBC Tuesday. It’s time to hold the Beijing’s feet to the fire and push them to honor international trade standards of the World Trade Organization, yet tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from the country are hurting local economies, he added. (Please see full article at the link)

The West Hollywood City Council has unanimously voted to have Donald Trump's star removed from the Hollywood Walk of Fame after multiple instances of vandalism, and Star Wars alum Mark Hamill has pitched the perfect person to replace him: film icon Carrie Fisher, who passed away in 2016. In a tweet responding to The Hill's story, Hamill suggested the late actress take Trump's spot in the popular tourist attraction using #AStarforCarrie, which has since gone viral. "Good riddance! (and I know just who should replace him....)" he wrote. Hamill shared a special relationship with Fisher, who played his long-lost twin...