Free Republic

The public continues to hear or read that President Trump's trade policies are hurting the U.S. economy and destroying our relationship with the world and hurting the U.S. consumer.  They say the tariffs are especially harmful and causing price increases.  I am having trouble finding factual data that support those talking points.  Why do we see general statements in the media instead of the actual data? Here are some of the data: In 2016, the last year of President Obama, exports were $1.45 trillion, and imports were $2.19 trillion. In 2017, the first year of President Trump, exports were $1.55 trillion (up around...

Pakistan Test Fires Ghaznavi Ballistic Missile Successfully Sputnik News 10:55 29.08.2019(updated 16:09 29.08.2019) New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistan has successfully held a night training test-launch of its surface to surface ballistic missile, Ghaznavi, the country's military said on Thursday. Major General Asif Ghafoor, the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the defence forces of Pakistan, confirmed the missile launch success on social media. ​Major General Ghafoor said the missile "is capable of delivering multiple types of warheads up to 290 kilometres". Pakistan's President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have congratulated the nation and the...

In an ongoing cultural controversy in Vermont, a former House member named Kiah Morris has launched a video attacking Vermonters and their culture as racist.  Ms. Morris has employed the empty trope that Vermonters who wish to preserve their traditional culture employ "political tactics [that] are historically consistent in the acceleration of increased discrimination, bias, and hate crimes against ethnic minorities and other marginalized people."  It becomes necessary to expose the absurd toxicity of such rantings. Ms. Morris's words reveal that she is not "from" Vermont.  Yet this student of "gender studies" proclaims that "[u]nless you are First Nations, you have no right to claim who...

Netflix is producing a new drama inspired by Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 run for US president. The series will be based on a chapter of Chasing Hillary, a memoir by Amy Chozick who covered the election as a reporter for the New York Times. Entitled Girls on the Bus, it will follow four female journalists trailing fictional presidential candidates. "This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me," Ms Chozick said. Netflix won the rights to the journalist's book after a fierce bidding war. The company said it would "follow the every move of a parade of...

I left the land of my ancestors for the land of the free to escape Islamic tyranny. Yet Islamic tyranny has followed me on my heels here. Even here I am not free to speak my mind. I must constantly look of over my shoulders to make sure that a knife of an Islamist zealot doesn’t slash my throat, or his bullet pulverizes my brain as he aims to secure a posh place for himself in Allah’s paradise. Not a good feeling to have to live with, is it? The potential killer and killers take all the advantages that this...

“I am not a crook.” “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Just joking.” That last line may be the Trump administration’s way of maintaining plausible deniability when dangling pardons. The Washington Post reported this week that Trump has told aides that he will pardon them if they have to break laws to build a border wall. Trump’s statement reportedly came as he pushes aides to build a border wall before the 2020 election to make good on his campaign promise, even if it requires seizing private land and disregarding environmental rules. When aides have protested that some...

In May the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed sweeping new civil rights protections for LGBT Americans. The Republican-controlled Senate has yet to act, however, and supporters of the legislation - including pop star Taylor Swift - are getting frustrated. The Equality Act, as it's called, expands workplace, education and public accommodation protections that currently prohibit discrimination based on race, gender and disability to include sexual preference and gender identity. The federal law would nationalise legal safeguards that are currently afforded to varying extent in only 22 states and the District of Columbia. In the remaining states, it is legal for...

Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell said Thursday that she wished for Hurricane Dorian to make a "direct hit" on President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The strengthening storm churned over the warm, open waters of the Atlantic on Thursday, upgrading to Category 2 strength late in the day, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. Forecasts showed Dorian tracking toward Florida's east coast — prompting Trump to warn Dorian "will be BIG!" Forecasters believe the storm will strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane by Friday, and stay well east of the southern and central...

Trump: US Troops Would Remain in Afghanistan After Deal with Taliban By VOA News August 29, 2019 President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. plans to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 8,600 and then will determine further drawdowns. Trump's comment came as a U.S. envoy continued talks with the Taliban to try to find a resolution to the nearly 18-year war. The president said the U.S. was "getting close" to making a deal, but that the outcome was uncertain. "Who knows if it's going to happen?" Trump told Fox News Radio's The Brian...

The brother of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has been charged with murder in connection with a shooting in which three people were killed and two others were injured on New Year's Eve in Cleveland. Tevin Biles-Thomas, 24, of Cleveland, was arrested Thursday at Fort Stewart in Georgia in the fatal shooting Dec. 31 at an Airbnb rental property that left three men dead, according to a joint statement from the Cleveland Division of Police and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. The statement said an "uninvited group" entered the house and "an altercation ensued" between them and the invited guests. The...

Southern Yemeni Separatists Appear to Control Aden By Edward Yeranian August 29, 2019 After several days of intermittent clashes, Yemen's southern separatist forces appear to have recaptured strategic positions in the interim southern capital of Aden from forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The separatists' latest defeat of Hadi's forces came amid accusations by his deputy foreign minister that Saudi-coalition partner the United Arab Emirates launched airstrikes against Hadi's forces on the ground, causing a number of casualties. Arab media are reporting that fighters loyal to Yemen's southern separatist movement regained control Thursday of Aden after government forces temporarily...

The largest clinical study of its kind to look at the effects of strict alternate-day fasting in healthy people has shown a number of health benefits. The participants alternated 36 hours of zero-calorie intake with 12 hours of unlimited eating...Overall, they reached a mean calorie restriction of about 35% and lost an average of 3.5 kg [7.7 lb] during four weeks of ADF.

he Far-left Democrats continue to reveal their true sick and twisted selves every day. This time, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke told a man during a campaign event that he supports a woman’s right to kill her baby even just one day before birth. WATCH the disturbing clip here:

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede and face of the youth climate change movement, arrived in New York City on Wednesday after setting sail two weeks on a solar-powered racing yacht from England. A substantial crowd greeted her after she was escorted into New York harbor by 17 sailboats — one for each of the U.N.’s “sustainable development” goals.

An eighth-grader with a big heart is making sure his peers will never go without clothes on their backs. Chase Neyland-Square, a student at Port Allen Middle School in Port Allen, Louisiana, helps run "PAMs pantry" -- a closet filled with clothes, hygiene products, shoes and more for kids in need. "My favorite part about helping with the pantry is getting types of clothes and sorting them out to give to various people," Chase told "Good Morning America." "It makes me feel good because I know that I can make a difference in my school." Principal Jessica Major said...

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Jesus felt compassion for the crowds as only the Son of God could feel. It is among God’s attributes to love and care because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The term for “felt compassion” literally refers to the intestines, and most often occurs in Scripture with the figurative reference to the emotions, the way we use “heart” today. But Jesus’ concern was not just symbolic. He no doubt physically felt the symptoms of genuine caring—ones such as aching...

WHAT TO KNOW Police say they are looking for a group of teens who brutally attacked a 67-year-old woman with her own cane in Queens earlier this month Group stole her Samsung cellphone, before proceeding to hit her with her own cane, cops say; The violent attack was captured on surveillance The NYPD says the attack appears to be the work of teenagers, possibly two males and two females Police are looking for a group of teens who robbed and brutally attacked a 67-year-old woman with her own cane in Queens earlier this month, authorities say. The violent, yet seemingly...

TGIFF! Its Fiddle Friday and we feature Howdy Forrester with Trombone Rag (1973). THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a feathery friend during her visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium over the weekend.

“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough” (Proverbs 30:15-16).