Free Republic

Melania Trump held hands with Donald Trump as she arrived back at the White House in Washington DC last night. She looked effortlessly chic in a sheer navy blouse and white skinny jeans. The pair returned from Biarritz in France where Emmanuel Macron hosted the 45th G7 summit. As Melania walked across the lawn from Marine One to the White House, the former model hid her face with a pair of oversized black sunglasses. Arriving late at night, she stood out in the dark with a pair of bright white mid-rise skinny jeans. Melania wore a thin navy blue shirt...

Under Donald Trump, departments across the executive branch have made religious freedom a clear priority, and nowhere has that agenda been more prominent than at the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. This morning, HHS officials will announce a new notice of violation, alleging that a major university medical center in Vermont forced a nurse to violate her conscience by assisting with an abortion. The nurse, who is Catholic and works at the University of Vermont Medical Center, or UVMMC, had made it clear to her employer: She did not want to participate in abortion procedures for reasons...

For several years, I was vice president of the US-China Strategic Review Commission, and we spent a lot of time with the top experts. We all generally agreed that China would grow larger and more powerful, but the central question was whether this would be a peaceful transformation or a violent one. Very few of these people (almost all men) thought China could get through the transition without some sort of violent convulsion, as we see today. Chinese unification has long been a challenge to the chiefs of their dynasties, and today there are three big areas that seek...

The deadline for public comments regarding a proposed border wall project in Starr County has been extended. The original deadline was Monday, August 26, but Customs and Border Protection say... “Due to the FY 19 appropriations language, CBP must consult with Starr County municipalities for border wall alignment as well as specific area requirements. For this reason, the open comment period has been extended."... The proposed project would consist of 30 foot tall posts, detection and surveillance technology, automated vehicle and pedestrian gates, and all weather roads for patrol units to run parallel to the Rio Grande. If approved, construction...

The brother of one of the victims killed in a collision with Kevin O’Leary‘s boat says if the “Shark Tank” star or his wife are found guilty of wrongdoing, “they’ve got to do the time.” Larry Poltash said he’s searching for answers in the death of his younger brother, Gary Poltash, who was killed instantly in the crash Saturday night on Lake Joseph in Ontario. He told the Toronto Sun that while he hopes it was all an accident, O’Leary and his wife, who was driving the boat at the time, should be held accountable if it wasn’t.

New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the Democratic presidential race yesterday evening after failing to qualify for the third round of primary debates, slated for September 12. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, meanwhile, will be one of ten Democrats on stage in Houston next month. To qualify for the debate, candidates had to hit 2 percent in at least four public-opinion polls and secure 130,000 unique donors. Among the others not to reach the threshold for September were Colorado senator Michael Bennet, Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard, and Montana governor Steve Bullock. While Yang managed to snag a spot in...

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg has described the timing of a trade pact with the South American grouping Mercosur amid raging fires in the Amazon as “awful”. Norway, which is part of European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) grouping four non-EU members, on Tuesday regretted the “awful timing” of a trade pact with Mercosur, as fires rage in the Amazon. Faced with massive criticism for his handling of the blazes in the rainforests, Brazilian President Jose Bolsonaro on Friday announced the agreement between EFTA, formed by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the South American grouping Mercosur, made up of Brazil,...

As we head into the long Labor Day weekend, here are two tips to make your holiday even more cheerful. First: Remember to watch out for drunk driving illegal aliens! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued report after report showing that Hispanics are wildly overrepresented in drunk driving accidents (but also contribute so much to our cultural life, musical heritage and landscape!). Or, as the Huffington Post puts it: "Latinos At Greater Risk of Dying From Driving While Intoxicated." They're victims of the drunk driving epidemic! "The authors found that some Latino parents actively promoted drinking among...

6.4 off Oregon Coast

A four-year probe into union corruption kicked into high gear yesterday as the FBI raided the homes of two United Auto Workers presidents. Both Gary Jones and his predecessor Dennis Williams are targets in a Department of Justice investigation into payoffs that might upend the auto industry. It might also disrupt Big Labor’s political standing before the election, as the UAW is one of the biggest unions in the country, especially in the private sector.CBS News called it a “dramatic escalation” last night: Federal agents on Wednesday descended on the homes of top officials with one of the nation’s...

Put yourself, in your mind’s eye, back in June 1776, specifically, the period between June 7 and July 1. It is precisely at that time that one of the most crucial political battles in the history of the American republic was fought—the battle over whether the American colonists would, as thirteen united colonies, declare independence to the world. Without that bold step—which put every outspoken leader, national or local, at risk of prison or death—the United States of America would never have been born.Yet the chief leaders of the American Revolution had a serious problem. Despite the broad support for...

(QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY) -- If the 2020 presidential election were held today, 54 percent of registered voters say that they would vote for former Vice President Joe Biden, while only 38 percent would vote for President Trump. Matchups against other top Democrats show: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders topping Trump 53 - 39 percent;Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren ahead of Trump 52 - 40 percent;California Sen. Kamala Harris beating Trump 51 - 40 percent;South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg leading with 49 percent to Trump's 40 percent. Looking at all of the matchups, President Trump is stuck between 38 and 40 percent of the...

A French researcher has exposed a security breach in an electronic voting system to be used in next month’s municipal elections in Moscow, potentially giving hackers access to voters’ choices. The University of Lorraine and France’s CNRS research institute said this week the cryptographer had taken up a challenge set by Echo of Moscow radio to test the system being rolled out for the vote. “Less than a month before Moscow tries online voting for electing the city’s new parliament, a French cryptographer has just exposed a security breach for the protocol being tested,” the two institutions said in a...

Today’s Cryptogram HGC BIW TWIW XG WMIPVT XTW YGIEO, BMO HGC PQFGKWIPZT HGCIZWES PS HGC SGIAWX XTW WIIBMO. ---YGGOIGY YPEZGM 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 any tips you might give the...

College football fans got a taste of the season ahead with a matchup of in-state rivals Florida and Miami on Saturday followed by an offensive clash between Arizona and Hawaii later that night. But Thursday will mark the start of Week 1, with top-ranked Clemson opening its season as well as three other ranked teams. From then until Monday evening, college football will dominate the airwaves across the U.S. with ranked teams playing each day.

Liberals are beginning to demean and laugh at Governor DeSantis for having the respect to request prayers in Israel during his trip recently. He requested God spare Florida hurricanes this year.

The Justice Department watchdog on Thursday released a scathing report stating that former FBI director James Comey violated FBI policies and his employment agreement with the bureau over his handling of official memos containing classified information. “We conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement,” the Justice Department inspector general report states, noting that “much of the content of the Memos was directly tied to FBI investigative activities.” While Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz declined to make a recommendation as to whether or not to charge the...

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“DOJ IG “found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.” I don’t need a public apology from those who defamed me, but a quick message with a “sorry we lied about you” would be nice.” “And to all those who’ve spent two years talking about me “going to jail” or being a “liar and a leaker”—ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long, including the president.”

When UBS banker and father of three Scott Hapgood was arrested and charged with manslaughter in Anguilla, I was one of the first and most vocal observers to sound an alarm. I declared Hapgood an American hero for defending his life and the lives of his young daughters when confronted by an armed attacker inside his hotel room while on vacation. From day one, it was clear to me that he was no murderer but instead a man forced to do the unthinkable when unexpectedly forced into a literal fight to survive. After all, who in their right mind would...