Free Republic

The Campaign Update Week in Review (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Tired of all this #WINNING yet? – Late Friday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the absurd lower court ruling by an Obama-appointed judge denying the President his clear constitutional authority to redirect unused funds from the military budget towards the building of the wall along our southern border. Let us never forget that the building of that wall was fully authorized by the U.S. Congress during both the Bush and Obama administrations, and those bills were signed into law by those two ex-presidents. For now, $2.5 billion in...

Many people think the Donald Trump presidency is a historical accident. They are bewildered about why it ever happened.I believe the Trump presidency was inevitable. If Donald Trump had never been born, there would be a Trump Number Two to take his place. And if Number Two stumbled, there would be a Number Three.The reason: There are social forces, helped along by the two major parties and the national news media, that made something like the Trump presidency inevitable.Race is a paramount issue. On that subject, Trump is politically incorrect. Intentionally so. Being politically incorrect is not racist. But it...

One Sunday, in counting the money in the weekly offering, the Pastor of a small church found a pink envelope containing $1,000. It happened again the next week! The following Sunday, he watched as the offering was collected and saw an elderly woman put the distinctive pink envelope on the plate. This went on for weeks until the pastor, overcome by curiosity, approached her. "Ma'am, I couldn't help but notice that you put $1,000 a week in the collection plate," he stated. "Why yes," she replied, "every week my son sends me money and I give some of it to...

‘I Have a Moral Responsibility to Come Forward’: Colonel Accuses Top Military Nominee of Assault Trigger Warning: This article contains information and details about sexual assault and/or violence, which may be upsetting to survivors. WASHINGTON — Col. Kathryn A. Spletstoser of the Army says she had returned to her hotel room and was putting on face cream on the night of Dec. 2, 2017, after a full day at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California, when her boss, Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, the commander of United States Strategic Command, knocked on her door and said he...

Is it wrong to take pleasure in the utter humiliation of Robert Mueller? If it is, then I’m sure not right. We are not going to get formal justice – if this fiasco has taught us anything, it is that – but at least we got to see some karma in action. It was Mueller Time all right and that human punchline we saw there on TV, forgetting and fumbling, is now Mueller For All Time. Serves him right. Slink away, Bobby. Just go. You’ve done enough damage to too many individuals and to our country. Be gone. Sure, his...

The $250 million defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann against the Washington Post was dismissed Friday. Attorneys for the Kentucky teen — who was filmed earlier this year in January wearing a MAGA hat in a viral standoff with Native American activist Nathan Phillips in Washington, DC — claimed the newspaper’s coverage of the incident led to a “mob of bullies which attacked, vilified & threatened” Sandmann. But US District Judge William Bertelsman tossed the suit, saying the paper was within its rights to publish Phillips’ views that the teen was deliberately blocking his path...

Stunning new images snapped in orbit show LightSail 2’s solar sail outstretched and ready to take on the next phase of its mission. The Planetary Society announced that the 18-foot-wide Mylar sail had successfully deployed earlier this week, following a late-June launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It’s just one five-thousandth of an inch thick, or about the width of a human hair. The milestone could pave the way for lower-cost spacecraft propulsion, allowing small craft to be driven by sunlight.

This is the horrifying moment a police worker was brutally beaten to the ground by young attackers who stamped on his head and stole his car keys. Footage show the man, dressed in Islamic attire, being kicked and punched after a gang of three surround him, with two of them on electric scooters. One of the thugs then stamps repeatedly on the victim's head during the assault on Wednesday. Authorities are offering up to $32,000 in rewards for information that leads to the arrest of the three attackers.

Left-leaning co-host of "The View," Joy Behar, changed course on the urgency of impeaching President Donald Trump after previously disagreeing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has rebuffed calls for his impeachment . Following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony on Wednesday, Behar spoke about why she thinks it's "too distracting" to impeach Trump leading up to the 2020 election — a view she shared with conservative co-host Meghan McCain, who emphasized the importance of winning over swing states.

BEIJING, July 26 (Reuters) - China has approved wheat imports from the Russian region of Kurgan, the Chinese customs office said on Friday, bringing Russia a step closer to its goal of dramatically increasing grain exports. It also approved soybean imports from all parts of Russia, the General Administration of Customs said in a separate statement on its website, having all but halted U.S. soy imports as the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington deepened. China was the top buyer of U.S. soybeans until Beijing slapped a 25% tariff on shipments last year in response to U.S. tariffs on a...

Hundreds of gaming enthusiasts are descending on the Big Apple this weekend for a Fortnite World Cup event. Fortnite creator Epic Games is hosting the three-day convention, which begins on Friday and ends Sunday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, and will see gamers play for a $30 million prize pool. Around 40 million players worldwide tried to qualify over 10 weeks following an online competition, CNN Business reported. However only 100 solo finalists have a shot at winning the huge cash prize at Flushing Meadows.

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 131 judges confirmed. 86 District Court judges 43 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices Next week will be a big week as McConnell has teed up 19 district judges for confirmation before they go on recess. This will bring the count to an even 150.

A federal judge signed a strict protective order on Thursday, instructing Jeffrey Epstein and his counsel to not share any information about the case with non-vital third parties. Judge Richard Berman wrote in his opinion that any evidence or discovery obtained by the defense from prosecutors 'is not authorized to be disclosed to the public or disclosed beyond that which is necessary for the defense of this action.' This goes for certain documents in particular which 'would impede, if prematurely disclosed, the Government’s ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals.' That suggests that a number of people closer to Epstein could be...

Soon after Jeffrey Epstein completed his time in ‘prison,’ his lawyers petitioned the court with a request. Epstein, 66, had pressing legal affairs to attend to, they claimed, with documents that could only be viewed at his lawyer’s office. The judge denied the defense team’s initial attempt, but in December 2009, Epstein was approved to travel unaccompanied to New York for one day. A few days after that first trip, Epstein was approved to travel any weekday he wished and stay overnight provided he gave 48 hours notice to his probation officer for the final eight months of his probation.

I have long suggested practical homemade guns of the future will only use 3D printing as part of the process. They will be hybrid designs using the strengths of 3D printing and simple metal components to produce practical firearms in the home or in small, unregulated shops.A prominent experimenter of homemade and small shop technology for crafting usable guns, Ivan the Troll (Internet screen name) claims to have made a breakthrough in home manufacture of rifled barrels. Ivan is part of, and often the spokesperson for, the Deterrence Dispensed project. Rifling a barrel has been done for hundreds of...

A doctor who served former President Obama for more than 20 years before his presidency said this week he thought former Vice President Joe Biden "looked frail" during the first Democratic debate in Miami, when he was attacked by Sen. Kamala Harris. Dr. David Scheiner told the Washington Examiner that Biden's appearance during the debate made him nervous. "Harris started attacking him and he looked frail to me," Scheiner said. "I sort of got the feeling he wasn’t very strong. It was similar to the feeling I got when Republicans started attacking Mueller so fiercely."

President Trump won two victories on his border agenda Friday, with the Supreme Court allowing the use of military funds to expand the barrier on the Mexican border while Guatemala agreed to serve as gatekeeper for asylum seekers trying to get to the U.S. In a 5-4 decision, the justices of the U.S. high court said President Trump can shift about $2.5 billion in military funds to construct an additional 100 miles of wall at the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to seal off the U.S. from illegal immigration. In February, Mr. Trump had declared a national emergency in order...

Today’s Cryptogram B NTBIH CHGKOMH B PED'I LDEN NFKI B IFBDL ODIBJ B THKP NFKI B MKS---RJKDDHTS E'GEDDET Today's Cryptogram is the from The Arkansas Gazette 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 (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general comments, but DO post your time and...

Ofcom, Britain's communications watchdog, highlighted seven instances of problematic reporting by the channel. Its handling of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury played a large part. British communications watchdog Ofcom announced the measure on Friday, after an investigation into RT's coverage of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. The fine of £200,000 ($250,000, €220,000) comes eight months after Ofcom launched its investigation into RT. Lack of impartiality Ofcom said RT, formerly known as Russia Today, "failed to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programs...

Iranian Clergies Spreading Lies and Fake News A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deceiving someone. A big lie is one which attempts to trick the victim into believing something major which will likely be contradicted by some information the victim already possesses, or by their common sense. When the lie is of sufficient magnitude it may succeed, due to the victim’s reluctance to believe that an untruth on such a grand scale would indeed be concocted A big lie is a propaganda technique and logical trick (fallacy) the expression...