Free Republic

In eighth-grade civics, students learn that Congress makes the law, the executive enforces the law, and the judiciary interprets the law. The Founders designed this separation to prevent one branch from getting too much power and threatening liberty. Yet in today’s sprawling administrative state, things aren’t so simple. Too often Congress passes laws stating vague objectives and leaves it to executive-branch officials to work out the controversial details—the real work of legislating. The courts have been reluctant to police this blurring of legislative and executive authority, but that may be changing. In Gundy v. U.S. on Thursday, three of the...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 123 judges confirmed. 80 District Court judges 41 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices This week the Senate Judiciary committee sent seven more judges to the floor, including a nominee to the 9th circuit. At this point in his presidency, Obama had only 19 Circuit judges confirmed and 69 District judges. Trump has nearly double the number of Circuit judge confirmations as Bush and Clinton as well, at similar points in their presidencies. However, Trump is well behind both Bush and Clinton in District confirmations. This is due to the...

With restraint being the apparent messaging from Washington in recent hours, Iran seems to be sending out its own messaging in that vein.... White House National Security Adviser John Bolton will be in Israel Sunday.... "You expect black people to vote for you" That was a sample of the response that Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg got in South Bend, Indiana Friday.... The murder conviction of a Mississipi man, tried six times in a quadruple murder case from 1996. thrown out by the US Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision Friday... Oregon's Democrat Governor Kate Brown ordering Oregon State Police...

Nine people died when a small, twin-engine aircraft used by skydivers crashed Friday evening near Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, officials said. Family members of the skydivers were reportedly not far from the site when the crash happened. The mangled remains of the King Air plane were seen in a photo posted by a local newspaper and distributed by the Associated Press. "In my 44 years as a firefighter in Hawaii, this is the most tragic incident that we've had," Honolulu Fire Chief Manuel Neves told the Star-Advertiser, describing the incident. "In my 44 years...

On Friday, President Donald J. Trump adamantly denied that he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll during the mid-90s in a Bergdorf Goodman's dressing room in New York City. Carroll made the lurid and detailed accusation in New York Magazine this morning.  Caroll, in her upcoming book "What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal," has a chapter titled, "Hideous Men" which details the various men she claims abused her in one way or another. One man on that list is President Donald J. Trump. Carroll claims that Trump asked for her help in buying lingerie as a gift for one...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated for now several powers Republican lawmakers gave the Legislature during a December lame-duck session. The order, in a second major case challenging the laws that passed after a Democrat was elected governor but before he took office, reinstates a law that reduced the power of Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul to drop out of or settle cases. It was issued less than 24 hours before a trial in the Dane County court case was set to begin. The ruling means that for now Kaul can no longer compromise or end most lawsuits brought...

New York City has set aside $250,000 to cover abortion expenses for uninsured people with a third of the money specifically earmarked for those traveling from outside the city seeking access to safe and legal abortion. The fund makes New York the first city in the country to designate money specifically for abortions. The relatively small amount will probably help around 500 people get abortions through the New York Abortion Access Fund, but lawmakers also see the money as a statement against abortion bans taking place in other parts of the country. "The abortion access fund provides payment to clinics...

The US has said it may impose duties on $300bn (£236.1bn) worth of Chinese products if the two sides can't reach a trade deal. In a letter, Apple "urged" the White House to drop the tariff plan. The tech giant said the duties would "tilt the playing field" to its global rivals. (please see link for full article)

"Nigel Farage has unveiled his plan to join forces with Tories for a hard Brexit", "name": "Nigel Farage reveals proposal to crash out of the EU with a Tory-Brexit Party pact", "description": "Nigel Farage has laid out his proposal for a Brexit Party coalition with the Conservatives that could see him in government by the autumn and crash the UK out of the EU with no deal.", "wordCount": "371", "articleBody": "The Brexit Party leader, who has never won a parliamentary seat, said that a so-called 'clean' exit from the EU could be achieved by Boris Johnson becoming prime minister,...

A Canadian countermoonbat sets out to see how many Antifa freaks he can take out without losing his cigarette. Via Citizen Free Press: *video on link* It is thoughtful of Antifa to wear black clothes and masks so that everyone knows who the bad guys are.

Here’s another one for the Diverse Families file. This time, instead of cutting off her son’s genitals because she had decided that he wanted to be a girl, then later murdering and beheading him as we read about earlier this week, the lesbian mommy reportedly beat her son to death for refusing to dress inappropriately: A seven-year-old boy in Mexico, identified as Karol Rámon, was reportedly beaten to death by his mother after refusing requests to dress like a girl. The mother’s girlfriend is suspected to have been involved in other beatings of the minor. Lesbianism is often associated with...

Boris Johnson’s bid to become prime minister has been thrown into chaos after police were called to blazing row between the MP and his girlfriend. Neighbours heard ‘plate-smashing’ and a ‘screaming row’ between Mr Johnson and Carrie Symonds. She is said to have yelled at him ‘get off me, get out’ at the home they share together in south London. On Saturday Mr Johnson, 55, is gearing up to go head to head with his leadership challenger Jeremy Hunt in the first run-off hustings. However, questions about his complicated private life are set to dominate the battle for Downing Street....

Beirut:: Fighting raged in northwest Syria on Thursday with clashes between regime forces and jihadist-led fighters killing 130 combatants in two days, a war monitor said.File image of an airstrike in Syria. AP The Idlib region, home to some three million people, is supposed to be protected by a months-old international truce deal, but it has come under increased bombardment by the regime and its Russian ally since late April.On the southwestern edges of the jihadist-run enclave, bombardment and fierce fighting since Tuesday have killed 89 anti-regime fighters and left 41 dead on the government side, the Syrian Observatory for...

A student has become the first person in the UK to be convicted for using a 3D printer to manufacture a gun. Tendai Muswere, 26, pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court on Wednesday to the charge of manufacturing a 3D printed gun. Police had initially gained access to Muswere’s home in Pimlico, central London, in October 2017 using a drug warrant, but found components of a 3D printed gun capable of firing a lethal shot during the search. Muswere, a student who does not hold a firearms licence, told officers he had printed the firearm for a “dystopian film” as...

A report published this week by the NASA Office of Inspector General reveals that in April 2018 hackers breached the agency's network and stole approximately 500 MB of data related to Mars missions. The point of entry was a Raspberry Pi device that was connected to the IT network of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) without authorization or going through the proper security review. According to a 49-page OIG report, the hackers used this point of entry to move deeper inside the JPL network by hacking a shared network gateway. The hackers used this network gateway to pivot inside...

Oregon’s top lawmakers will shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups, who authorities say are planning to demonstrate there in support of the 11 Republican senators who fled the state to dodge a vote on climate change.

Seven motorcyclists were killed and three others injured when they collided with a pickup truck going the opposite direction in New Hampshire, police said. Authorities received a call around 6:30 p.m. Friday about a motor vehicle crash on Route 2 in Randolph, New Hampshire State Police Capt. Chris Vetter said. The pickup truck, a 2016 Dodge 2500, was traveling west on Route 2 while the motorcyclists were traveling east, police said. State police collision analysis and reconstruction teams are investigating the crash, and will continue overnight in conjunction with local police and the Coos County Attorney's Office. "Route 2 is...

Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is going to serve as a keynote speaker at the forthcoming Cyber Defense Summit, which is organized by the cybersecurity company FireEye in October 2019. “We are pleased to announce that Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be a featured keynote at our #FireEyeSummit in October! Secretary Clinton will engage in an intimate Q&A keynote discussion,” a tweet from the FireEye read. The Cyber Defense Summit is intended to bring together many of the world’s leading security veterans, including frontline heroes, government leaders, and executives from various...

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has called for protests against right-wing extremism, claiming in an op-ed published in the Saturday edition of Bild newspaper that Germany “has a terrorism problem.” In the editorial, Maas responded to the recent murder of a German district president, Walter Lübcke, as well as death threats directed towards pro-migrant politicians Henriette Reker and Andreas Hollstein, the mayors of western German cities Cologne and Altena respectively. ”Eighty years after the beginning of World War II, politicians have again become victims of right-wing terrorists. Because of their beliefs. Because of their commitment to our country,” Maas wrote....

I’ll be out next week. Remember that if you’re in the Hilton Head area, you can hear me ramble about the book, answer some questions about politics and the presidential race, and get some free food Monday night. It’s free, just RSVP here. Making the click-through worthwhile: contemplating whether the attacks Trump used against Hillary Clinton will work against Elizabeth Warren; the Democrats pick their top 20 candidates for the debates, leaving a governor, a former senator, a Congressman and a mayor out in the cold; and Trump proves, once again, that he will never change, no matter the consequence....