Free Republic

The Hon. Peter Breen, Vice President and Senior Counsel of the Thomas More Society, offers a legal analysis of the ongoing preliminary hearing in the criminal case: The People of the State of California v David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt.

Let's be honest, we need Joe Biden to stay in the race, for the entertainment value alone. That being a given, Joe needs a boost and what better boost than a new theme song. So, here is my suggestion: New theme song for Joe

Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticized some gun owners on Friday, suggesting it was sad that their “sense of manhood” depended on owning a gun. In an interview with TMZ Live on Friday, Buttigieg was asked about the Twitter feud between former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Texas Republican Representative Briscoe Cain. After O’Rourke told gun owners that “Hell, yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15″ during the Democrat debate on Thursday, Cain dared Beto O’Rourke on Twitter to come and take his AR-15. Buttigieg agreed with O’Rourke that Cain’s comment on Twitter was a “death threat,” and the South Bend mayor admonished Cain...

Pope Francis has accused Britain of placing greed over humanity by refusing to hand over a disputed island archipelago in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. In an unusually muscular foreign policy intervention, the pope suggested that Britain’s failure to heed a United Nations vote calling on it relinquish sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory was uncivilised. “Not all things that are right for humanity are right for our pocket, but international institutions must be obeyed,” the pope told journalists as he left Mauritius at the end of a three-nation tour of Africa. “If there is an internal dispute or...

About half the people who signed up to initiate asylum claims at an El Paso port of entry are no longer showing up when called, Mexican officials say. Those officials interpret this as a sign many Central Americans and others are returning home or exploring alternatives to escape the violence, poverty or persecution that drove them out of their countries. “We know this is going on because when they are called to meet with CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) to request asylum, we call, for example, 10 people and we are able to go down 30 to 40 numbers...

ROME - Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has urged those considering allowing priests in the Latin rite to marry in order to help solve a crippling shortage, to proceed with caution, saying marriage has not curbed shortages in his own rite. With five blooming seminaries in Ukraine alone, “thanks be to God we do not lack vocations,” Shevchuk said, but noted that despite the fact that priests in his church - the largest of the 23 sui iuris eastern churches in full communion with Rome - have the ability to marry, the high numbers...

The residents of Qaraqosh, Iraq, can borrow books again from the reopened Christian library which was burnt and partially destroyed during the occupation of the town by Islamic State/Daesh. Islamic State's invasion of the region forcefully displaced tens of thousands of Christian families. IS militants intentionally destroyed the villages and homes of thousands of Christians, as well as burning their churches and libraries. When people returned to their hometown after its liberation, they found most of the library books burnt or stolen. First, with the help of church youth volunteers, dust and ashes were cleaned off the surviving books. People...

Diocese of Rochester first to file after Child Victims ActROCHESTER, N.Y. (ChurchMilitant.com) - The diocese of Rochester, New York, where the famous preacher and writer Bp. Fulton Sheen once served as the local ordinary, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday. The Child Victims Act, which went into effect in New York Aug. 14, allowed for dozens of alleged clergy sex abuse victims to sue the diocese of Rochester, worsening the diocese's debt/asset ratio. The 32-page Chapter 11 filing shows that the diocese estimated that its liabilities outweigh its assets: * Estimated assets: between $50 million and $100 million. * Estimated liabilities:...

    ***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ Clyde McPhatter ~ ***** ~ Support The Artists ~   Support the artists you hear throughout the Canteen! Click on the links below! Keep the music going! ArtistDirect l  Internet Radio l  AOL Music l  Sonique (Lycos) l  Real Radio Live365 l  971TheRiver  l  GotRadio  l  Wherehouse  l  Target  l Shoutcast AFRTS l  VH1 l XM Radio l  BET l  audiophile l  Virgin Radio l  Soma (Alternative) Acaza l AudioRealm l VH1 l  Yahoo! Launch Music l  Radio Disney l  Live-Radio Net ITunes l Amazon l Salsa Radio l MTV l...

Catholicism preaches forgiveness, but this might be a tough ask. The face of a Virgin Mary statue outside a Downtown Jersey City church was found covered with dog feces and the depraved vandal added a cigarette to the desecration. The vandalism was reported by a parishioner who was entering St. Michael Church on Ninth Street just before the daily midday Mass, said the Rev. Thomas Quinn, the pastor. “I was shocked, saddened and angry,” Quinn said. “Without a doubt it was the work of someone who is emotionally disturbed. Still, there was some degree of deliberation there.”

Documents Reveal State Department Efforts to Undermine Trump Revealed: DOJ Discussions on Rosenstein Wearing Wire to Get Trump North Carolina Frees Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Wanted by Feds Don’t Miss “On Watch With Chris Farrell” Documents Reveal State Department Efforts to Undermine Trump We have made public 90 pages of heavily redacted U.S. Department of State documents showing Obama State Department officials’ efforts to disseminate classified information to multiple U.S. Senators immediately prior to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The information, which included raw intelligence, purported to show “ malign ” Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Among the...

Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign debuted new merchandise Thursday night designed around his biggest line of the Democratic primary debate. The campaign’s web store is now selling a shirt with red, white, and blue letters promising widespread gun confiscation. “Hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15” the shirt reads, followed by the “Beto for America” slogan. The t-shirt style comes in “Unisex” and “Ladies cut.” O’Rourke made headlines in Thursday’s debate, promising to make AR-15 and AK-47 rifles illegal and to confiscate them. “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” he said, as the crowd...

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he will sign legislation that the California Trucking Association claims "will put tens of thousands of owner-operator truckers, who service agriculture, retail and other industry sectors, out of business." Newsom called owner-operated trucking "a no longer needed vestige of the past. I know that there is a certain kind of nostalgia for these modern day 'cowboys' driving goods around the state. But in the progressive future we envision for our state and the nation independent truckers are outside of the role required for a socially cooperative model of how the economy should operate. It...

“We just heard from NASCAR on a number of gun related ads and unfortunately, due a gradual shift in NASCAR’s position on guns, these ads must be edited/changed — especially those that are depicted as assault-style rifles/sniper rifles. NASCAR is still open to some of the less controversial gun accessories, concealed carry, or classes.”

**SNIP** So on Thursday, at the Democratic Party's first one-night presidential debate, the first opportunity to showcase the party's 10 leading candidates, what role did the nation's widespread economic anxieties play? Almost none. The candidates simply didn't talk about it. (Nor did the ABC News moderators ask.) The word "recession" was uttered just once in the entire debate. (By Julián Castro, who noted the poll's finding of recession fears.) Nor was the word "unemployment" ever spoken. Nor was there a discussion of job creation. Nor was there much of a discussion of wages. On the government side, no one, moderator...

Bringing her political star power to races for Congress, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday endorsed Democratic Senator Ed Markey for re-election in Massachusetts as he faces a potential primary challenge from Congressman Joe Kennedy III. Ocasio-Cortez said in a video released by Markey's campaign that she's backing the Democratic incumbent as one of the Senate's "strongest progressives." Markey is her Senate partner on the Green New Deal climate change proposal. He introduced the controversial bill in the Senate. She said she is "proud to enthusiastically support" Markey's reelection. "When I first got to Congress and we started to discuss big,...

Bill removes profit motive from incarceration and marks latest clash in state’s battle with Trump over treatment of immigrants The private prison industry is set to be upended after California lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday banning the facilities from operating in the state. The move will probably also close down four large immigration detention facilities that can hold up to 4,500 people at a time. The legislation is being hailed as a major victory for criminal justice reform because it removes the profit motive from incarceration. It also marks a dramatic departure from California’s past, when private prisons were...

Most elementary school kids don't have their college plans firmed up, but the University of Tennessee super-fan who was bullied for his homemade T-shirt can mark that off of his list. "In recognition of the fourth-grader's Volunteer spirit, the university has extended an offer of honorary admission for him to join the Class of 2032," the school said in a statement. "In addition, he has been awarded a four-year scholarship covering his tuition and fees beginning fall 2028 should he decide to attend UT and meet admission requirements."

A surge in "chemsex" parties, where people spend days getting high on drugs and having sex with scores of partners, is re-fueling epidemics of HIV among gay men in European towns and cities, doctors say. Despite much higher risks of contracting the virus that causes AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), users search online "hook-up" apps like Grindr for tags such as "high and horny" or "party and play" to find others wanting drug-heightened and often anonymous and unprotected sex. The result, AIDS experts say, is that in cities across Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly among men...

City students who skip school for the national Climate Strike walkout next week won’t be punished, Education Department officials said Thursday. “I’m thankful that DOE made the decision to support our students’ powerful path towards change by excusing absences for the Climate Strike," said City Council Member Rafael Espinal, Jr. who urged the move at a rally with kids at city hall. “The climate crisis is not slowing down and our students aren’t either by leading the fight against it and we should be doing everything we can to encourage their leadership,” Espinal, (D-Brooklyn) said. Students across the city will...