Free Republic

Have two friends in hearings today that affect their kids. One male and one female. They are both fighting jerks. Being a jerk does not have gender. Please pray for them.

Here’s Why A Universal Background Check Law Would Be Bad Since the shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, many politicians have claimed that a federal law mandating universal background checks — which would apply to the transfer of firearms between private citizens — would help solve, or at least reduce, such shootings in the future. The problem is not one mass public shooting this century would have been stopped if such a law had been in effect. In fact, such a system would have real costs and unintended consequences for the public. Presently, background checks are conducted on...

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Friday defeated an appeal by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in what the online retailer has called a $1.5 billion dispute over its tax treatment of transactions with a Luxembourg subsidiary.In a 3-0 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle upheld a 2017 ruling by the U.S. Tax Court related to intangible assets that Amazon.com transferred in 2005 and 2006 to the unit, Amazon Europe Holding Technologies SCS. Intangible assets include such items as customer lists, intellectual property and software. The appeals court rejected a broader definition sought by the IRS that...

Twitter’s debate-chilling problem: The social media site’s arbitrary policies allow foreign nations to censor American — often without explanation I am the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, whose account Twitter locked because it tweeted a link to a Daily News article that I wrote about Twitter locking my personal account. Twitter informs me that the account was locked because the News article contains quotes from the New Zealand mass killer, and New Zealand and Australia have laws against sharing the manifestos of shooters. As a Twitter representative emailed me: “Due to the safety of Twitter users and regulations...

---SNIP---- But it was also the scene nearly 35 years prior, when more than a decade of animosity between an anti-establishment black liberation group and the city where it was based reached a fiery crescendo. It ended when police dropped a bomb on a rowhouse killing 11 people, including five children. Wednesday’s battle recalled the chaos in West Philadelphia on May 13, 1985 — but the buildup to each incident, and their outcomes, were very different. MOVE, which is not an acronym, was founded in 1972 by Vincent Leaphart, who later took the name John Africa

An abortion trade group on Thursday announced the launch of a prepaid gas card pilot program for women who need to travel greater distances to get the procedure as more states continue to impose highly restrictive laws. The Very Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest who serves as the interim president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), touted the program. “In addition to helping patients cover the cost of their procedure, we also provide case management support and help covering travel-related expenses,” she said in a news release. “We have already seen an increase in distances patients have...

Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the CIA seeking the CIA Inspector General’s November 1996 report related to a drug-running, arms smuggling and intelligence operation involving Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport in Arkansas. The airfield in Mena was alleged to have been used in the 1980s by the CIA during the Reagan administration to smuggle arms to rebels in Nicaragua. A central figure in the operation was Barry Seal, a pilot and drug smuggler for Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel who became an undercover agent and informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In...

A number of academic studies demonstrate that immigration indeed raises housing prices and rents. Libertad Gonzalez and Francesc Ortega in a 2013 study found that immigration into Spain caused 52 percent of the overall increase in Spain’s real estate market. Another paper published in 2012 by Canadian researchers Ather Akbari and Yigit Aydede found that immigration raised housing and rent prices in Vancouver, although the effect was not large. The authors postulated that the unexpected minor impact may be due to native residents leaving neighborhoods with high immigrant rates—“white flight.” Abeba Mussa, Uwaoma G. Nwaogub, and Susan Pozoc tested this...

Allies to Joe Biden have been floating the idea of altering [reducing] the former vice president's schedule in an effort to reduce the gaffes he has made in recent days. Biden has a tendency to make the blunders late in the day, his allies say, particularly after a long swing on the road, like he had last week in Iowa. They say something needs to be done to give the candidate more down time [naps for the old guy] as the campaign intensifies in the fall. "He needs to be a strong force on the campaign trail, but he also...

‘They say he’s not going to win re-election,’ blurted a tank top-wearing twenty-something as he scanned the crowd outside SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. ‘But look at this shit!’ Pressed into the throng, I couldn’t help but agree. At his first re-election rally in New England, President Trump’s supporters had filled the arena’s 12,000 seats. Denied entry, thousands more filled an adjacent plaza in which the campaign had erected a jumbotron.

Talib Screws Grandmother over Politics (DemocRAT Hatred of Israel). It went like this; Omar and Tliab say their going to Israel to Protest and Boycott Israel. Israel says No. Tliab say she needs to visit her grandmother who lives there and Israel says OK, just that. Next she says she isn't going because Israels "oppression". IE: Granny screwed. No DemocRAT calls her out on her manipulation and Hatred of Israel. Thus proving, yet once again, DemocRATS Hate Israel and are making it a part of their Presidential Campaigns. "Very Interesting, but STUPID" as they used to say on Laugh In.

An Oregon man is back in court this week after he refused to pay taxes because they fund the killing of unborn babies. A lawyer for Michael E. Bowman, of Columbia City, said his client has deeply-held convictions against abortion, in part, because his own unborn child was aborted many years ago, The Oregonian reports. Matthew Schindler told a federal jury that when Bowman was a teenager, his pregnant girlfriend’s parents forced her to have an abortion, and he could do nothing to stop it. Bowman, a pro-life Christian, has refused to pay income taxes or file tax returns for...

Today’s Campaign Update, Part II (Because The Campaign Never Ends) You may have been wondering why your support for Donald Trump has suddenly resulted in your being labeled a “white supremacist.” Doesn’t matter of whether you happen to actually be white, or whether you are latino, black, male, female or one of the other mythical genders now being invented by the political left, if you support the sitting President of the United States of America, that means you will be labeled a “white supremacist” by the Democrats and our fake news media. Don’t laugh at the notion that President Trump...

A man has been charged after Ben Fordham was sent shocking dashcam footage of a vile attack on an anti-abortion protester outside NSW Parliament. The video shows a delivery cyclist travelling along Macquarie Street in the Sydney CBD on Thursday, before he turns and heads across the wrong side of the road. He rides straight towards a man holding a placard before stopping and spitting directly in his face. Andrew Taylor was the driver who captured the dashcam video and says the victim was protesting against the abortion bill. He’s told The Ben Fordham Show it was a clear assault....

To the tune of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (with apologies to Elmo and Patsy) An abbreviated version of the classic song to treat this news story with the seriousness it deserves. This one has an unusual meter plus I took some small liberties, so please hang in there.

Finally an economic analyst gets prime-time media pundits to listen as he describes the fundamental difference between the U.S. “Economy” (Main Street) and the U.S. “Markets” (Wall Street). Charles Payne understands most of this, but El-Erian has it nailed.Allianz Group chief economic advisor, Mohamed El-Erian, accurately describes what is happening in an era where deglobalization is taking place. The U.S. economy is strong; however, the multinationals on Wall Street -invested overseas- are exposed. Thus there’s a disconnect and accompanying market volatility.This is well worth watching because this is the first well-regarded financial pundit that is speaking truth to Wall...

Transitioning to renewable energy across society will require many changes, including more batteries. Energy storage is crucial for making sure that inconsistent renewable sources, like wind or solar, can stay humming even when the weather isn't going their way. But batteries have their own problem in the form of the commonly used lithium. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have come up with what could be a possible replacement: a rechargeable iron ion battery that uses mild steel as the anode. “The major limitations of lithium-ion batteries are the unavailability of lithium in conjunction with the safety...

A research paper currently being pushed by a researcher at the College of Brockport Gender Studies program wants society — feminists — to talk about the unseemly “sexual exploitation” of dairy cows in order to “fully fight gendered oppression.” The author claims the dairy industry is rife with ‘sex-based discrimination’ (of cows), and compares insemination of the cattle to “rape.” The milking of cows is, of course, “sexual assault.” This isn’t satire, so be careful, if you start buying into this, you too could be assimilated. According to Campus Reform: A paper currently being promoted by a New York University...

Wikipedia: According to John 21:11 "Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of 153 large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn". This has become known popularly as the "153 fish" miracle. In the Gospel of John,[5] seven of the disciples—Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee (James and John), and two others – decided to go fishing one evening after the Resurrection of Jesus, but caught nothing that night. Early the next morning, Jesus (whom they had not recognised) called out to them from the shore: "Friends,...

Full Header" ‘Have A Million Seats’: Dana Loesch Blasts Philly Mayor’s Attempts To Blame ‘Law Abiding People’ For Criminal’s Actions “Our officers need help,” Kenney said during a Wednesday press conference. “They need help with gun control. They need help with keeping these weapons out of these people’s hands.” “The perp is a felon, a prohibited possessor, who keeps being let out on the street to cause chaos,” Loesch tweeted Thursday. “It’s not the fault of law-abiding people but heaven forbid you examine light sentencing and recidivism driving the violent crime rate nationwide.”