Free Republic

Kirsten Gillibrand was applauded by many in the media as the Democratic presidential candidate focused on “women’s rights,” or, more specifically, abortion. But, in the end, that wasn’t enough to win Democratic voters – never mind general-election voters. On August 28, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ended her presidential bid after failing to qualify for the next Democratic presidential candidate debate, scheduled for September 12. “I wanted you to hear from me first, that after more than eight incredible months, I am ending my presidential campaign,” she announced to her supporters in a video posted on social media. While the...

Jefferson City) -- Two groups are suing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for his handling of an attempt to block new abortion regulations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the No Bans on Choice Committee say Ashcroft refused to issue the ballot language needed to start collecting signatures for a public vote. In a press call on Thursday, representatives of the groups say Ashcroft robbed Missourians of 78 days by giving abortion rights advocates 14 days to collect 100,000 signatures. “We had to face reality and we know that we can’t ask our volunteers in good faith to...

A judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of an embryo against the Huntsville clinic where his ex-girlfriend got an abortion. Ryan Magers sued the Alabama Women’s Clinic in Huntsville on behalf of the estate of the aborted embryo, identified as “Baby Roe” in the lawsuit. Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer dismissed the case in an order on Friday. Comer said the lawsuit didn’t accuse the clinic of unlawful or wrongful conduct at the time of the abortion. In arguing the case, Magers’ attorney Brett Helms cited Alabama’s recent abortion ban and a constitutional amendment...

I have a Kimber pepperblaster that I brought to Spain from America when we moved here in 2016. Odds are it's 4 years old now, the shelf life Kimber claims for it. Does that mean the pepper concentrate is no longer viable? They say that the spray isn't pressurized so it can't lose pressure over time so I'm trying to figure out what dies on it after 4 years. BTW I can't just get a replacement. Pepper Spray is legal in Spain but only at 5% strength. The Kimber is 10%.

It was a warm June afternoon when Judith Plaskow got the email reminding her of a guest arriving soon. The woman staying at Plaskow's Washington Heights apartment was a stranger who needed to be picked up at the Port Authority bus terminal on Manhattan's West Side. She was young — just 19 — and had never been to New York City before. Plaskow guessed she'd be scared. The woman wasn't coming to the big city for thrills or fun. There'd be no Broadway show, no visit to the Empire State building. She was making a 10-hour trip to receive safe,...

London mayor Sadiq Khan rips Trump for managing Hurricane Dorian emergency response while 'out on the golf course' The mayor of London renewed his public feud with President Trump over the weekend by mocking the president for canceling a trip to Poland to commemorate the start of World War II only to deal with emergency response to Hurricane Dorian from the golf course. London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who traveled to Poland over the weekend for a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, told Politico in an interview Sunday that Trump couldn’t attend because...

Boris Johnson faces a showdown in Parliament later after No 10 officials warned he would call for a snap general election on 14 October if MPs succeed in seizing control of Commons business. Rebel Tories and Labour MPs are planning a bill to stop the UK leaving the EU on 31 October without a deal. Mr Johnson said he did not want an election, but progress with the EU would be "impossible" if the MPs win. Jeremy Corbyn said the Labour Party was ready for a general election.

A gunman who opened fire inside a Walmart in Washington state and injured at least two people during carjacking attempts was fatally shot by one of two armed civilians on Sunday evening, according to police. The Thurston County coroner identified the dead suspect as Tim O. Day, 44, though police said they were still piecing together the full story of what happened at the Tumwater, Wash. Walmart. About 5 p.m. Pacific Time, authorities received a call about a possibly drunk driver heading the wrong way on a main road near a local high school, said Laura Wohl, Tumwater police public...

FBI special agent Christopher Combs said Ator called the agency’s tip line...making “rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through.” “He was on a long spiral of going down,” Combs said. “He didn’t wake up Saturday morning and walk into his company and then it happened. He went to that company in trouble.” ...Ator had previously failed a federal background check for a firearm, said John Wester, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Wester did not say when Ator failed the background check or why.

[Catholic Caucus] Accused Predator Zanchetta Retains Job in Rome Despite abuse allegations, Francis protégé still 'employed by the Vatican' VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Under pressure from the Holy See, an Argentine judge has cleared accused sexual predator Bp. Gustavo Zanchetta to return to Rome. According to Crux, Judge Claudio Parisi gave the final green light for Zanchetta's return last week, saying the alleged predator prelate has "collaborated with the justice system." Zanchetta was suspended from his Vatican post in February after he was publicly accused of sexually abusing seminarians in 2016–2017. In June, Argentine officials criminally charged him with "aggravated continuous sexual...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Healthcare; Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

September 3 2019 Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11 Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters,you have no need for anything to be written to you.For you yourselves know very wellthat the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.When people are saying, "Peace and security,"then sudden disaster comes upon them,like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,for that day to overtake you like a thief.For all of you are children...

The amazing string of “coincidences” deep-sixing evidence about Jeffrey Epstein and his sex ring activities keeps growing. . . . Now, according to an exclusive in the UK Daily Mail, we learn that an associate of Epstein, a potential witness who recruited young girls for his modeling agency, whom French authorities “urgently” want to question, has disappeared. Sebastian Murphy-Bates writes: A millionaire model agency boss who is thought to have key information about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal 'has disappeared like a ghost without a trace'. Jean-Luc Brunel, 72, has vanished as police seek to ask the Frenchman 'urgent' questions about...

US VICE PRESIDENT Mike Pence has touched down in Ireland this afternoon. Air Force Two, the plane which carries the vice president and the second lady landed in Shannon Airport at around 4.30pm this afternoon. Pence will meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tomorrow as well as President Michael D Higgins during his visit. The meeting with Varadkar for lunch and talks will take place in Farmleigh House with Varadkar saying today that his parents and partner Matt Barrett will also be present. Pence is arriving in Shannon early this evening and will stay overnight in Trump Doonbeg – the Co...

John Kerry’s stepson rushed to play damage control at the State Department after his business partner Hunter Biden cut a deal with an oligarch-owned Ukrainian gas company in 2014, according to internal State Department correspondence obtained by the Washington Examiner. The correspondence adds to the questions about Biden's business activities, which have dogged the 2020 Democratic primary campaign of his father Joe. Hunter Biden's long history of drug and alcohol abuse, which contributed to his divorce and his dismissal from the Navy Reserve, has also attracted unwelcome publicity for the Democratic front-runner. An email released to the Washington Examiner shows...

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Joe Biden pledged to erect an "absolute wall" between the presidency and his family's business dealings and said he has never discussed business with relatives, following an event here on Wednesday. "I have never discussed, with my son or my brother or with anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses. Period," he said. "And what I will do is the same thing we did in our administration. There will be an absolute wall between personal and private [business interests] and the government. There wasn’t any hint of scandal at all when we were there. And...

‘This Pontificate Is Worse Than the Falklands War’ Far from reviving Catholicism in Buenos Aires, this pontificate has deflated it. “Immediately after his election church attendance seemed to go up a little bit,” said one Argentine Catholic. “But now it has gone down. Parishes which once had perpetual Eucharistic adoration no longer have it. The situation in Buenos Aires has gone from bad to worse.” Another Argentine Catholic tells me, “I stopped going to daily Mass because the quality of it has become such a joke.”Indeed, many of the Catholic institutions in Buenos Aires seem either ghost-townish or in the...

Post #6. With so many rats running for president in 2020 it's hard to keep up with who's in and who's out. Hopefully, this post will help. Below is a list of declared candidates, their occupation, the date they dropped from the race (if they did) and misc. notes.This thread will be reposted each week, likely on Monday, with the dropouts from the previous week and newly declared candidates noted. The dust biter(s) from last week: Kirsten Gillibrand. Newly declared candidates from last week: None, thankfully.Please let me know via FReepmail if you find errors. Thanks! upchuck Nbr Name Occupation...

Union bosses, closely tied to the Democrat Party, say American union workers sticking with President Trump in 2020 and his economic nationalist agenda is “a serious problem” for them. A report by the Wall Street Journal reveals how union bosses and Democrats are looking to peel off Trump’s support from American union workers who back his agenda, where most recently he has demanded multinational corporations move their production in China to the U.S. The Journal reports: “It’s a serious problem for us,” said Alan Netland, president of the North East Area Labor Council in Duluth, Minn., which represents 40,000 union...