Free Republic

The 18-year-old accused of kidnapping a Nashville high school student and beating him for refusing to join a gang had previously been deported according to the Department of Justice. U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee reports Franklin Pineda-Caceres will face federal charges for entering the country illegally after being deported in 2018. According to the charging documents, Pineda-Caceres was arrested in Nashville in October 2017 on drug charges. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) determined he had illegally entered the country in 2014 and an order for his removal was issued in 2016.

Aaron Carter's arsenal isn't going to be taken from him ... at least not yet, but that could change if authorities decide he's mentally unfit to own firearms. Carter has been erratic lately ... friends and family have been so worried they've called police to do welfare checks. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... until a court, board, commission, judge or other lawful authority determines Aaron suffers from a mental illness or condition that causes him to be a danger to himself or others, he can keep his guns. If this were to happen, we're told Carter would possibly be...

A homeowner in Georgia shot and killed three young masked men at his home early Monday morning, according to Rockdale County Sheriff Eric Levett. Authorities identified the three deceased individuals as juveniles Monday evening -- two 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old -- but have not released their names. The sheriff’s office told ABC News it waited to release information about the teens, all from Conyers, Georgia, until all three families were notified. The homeowner, who has also not been identified by deputies, was taken to the station for questioning.

Shawn Pleasants has the kind of resume that would attract the attention of any job recruiter: high school valedictorian, economics major from Yale University, Wall Street banking jobs, small business entrepreneur. But a few wrong turns in life 10 years ago left him homeless, and today he's living underneath a tarp in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles. He's been told before that a smart and capable person like him should not be in this situation. "But I'm like, should anybody be here? Who should, then?" Pleasants said.

Woo hoo!! Less than $3k to go!! We can do this. If you love using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please click the link and make your donation today. Make it a monthly if you can. We have some very generous FReeper sponsors kicking in an extra ten bucks for every new monthly signed up. And we have signed up 34 new monthly donors so far this quarter, and we have also received 190 "300 Club" donations of $100 or more! Way to go, FReepers!! Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno,...

The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday launched an investigation into Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over whether she is using her office to benefit herself and her family. The investigation follows a series of reports alleging that Chao used her role in the Trump administration to boost Foremost Group, a shipping company founded by her father, and initially didn't divest from stock in a major construction company. “The Committee is examining your misstatements of fact, your actions that may have benefitted the company in which you continued to hold shares, and your compliance with ethics and financial disclosure requirements,”...

Two years after the cancellation of her talk show, Chelsea Handler is back on Netflix, this time delivering a documentary-style dive into the concept of white privilege. “Hello Privilege, It’s Me Chelsea” dropped on Friday the Thirteenth, promising to explore how white privilege has benefited Handler’s life. When Chelsea first introduced her fans to the project on Instagram—taking a break from her usual marijuana smoke-filled cooking escapades—it seemed puzzling. Handler is, after all, the stand-up comedienne who penned the book “Uganda Be Kidding Me” and released a comedy special by the same name just five years ago.

As a group of suburban Portland psychiatric nurses sat for training in late 2016, they had no idea they were witnessing a paradigm shift in public health policy. They simply wanted to know what to do about a sudden upsurge in young psychiatric patients who believed themselves to be in the wrong body. They had turned to a colleague from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) for help.The reply was astonishing: The children’s claims should be taken at face value, and the children should be referred to OHSU, or like institutions, for a “Dutch Protocol” of puberty blockers and cross-sex...

A woman was charged after allegedly telling coworkers she would shoot up a high school and deputies later seized an AK-47 with six magazines and a 12-gauge shotgun. Alexis Wilson, 18, was charged Monday with felony terrorist hoax for allegedly threatening to “shoot up” McAlester High School, according to court records. Pittsburg County Special Judge Mindy Beare set bond at $250,000 and a hearing date for Sept. 27 at Monday’s initial appearance arraignment. Wilson’s mother said during the arraignment that her daughter is innocent. Pittsburg County Sheriff Morris said an anonymous tip led to the investigation that found Wilson posted...

One year later, Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle continues to illustrate the divide between the far left and much of the rest of the country, a gulf worsened by the media, and invisible to elite Democrats. On Sunday, The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway caught the New York Times omitting the highly relevant detail that his purported victim reportedly does not remember a new Kavanaugh allegation attributed to her. No matter, by Monday, every major 2020 candidate except Joe Biden had called for the justice’s impeachment. At a Winning for Women lunch earlier this month, I asked Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna...

RIO RANCHO – In his first visit to New Mexico since winning the White House, President Donald Trump Monday night pledged to “campaign for every vote” and defy political pundits by adding the state to his win column in 2020. ADVERTISEMENTSKIP During a rally at the Santa Ana Star Center attended by an estimated 9,000 people, Trump touted an oil drilling boom in southeast New Mexico that has driven state revenue levels to an all-time high and cited a spike in business applications statewide before asking the crowd to “give me a little bit more time.” “The Democrats want to...

The recent threats by Beijing to cut off American access to critical mineral imports has many Americans wondering why our politicians have allowed the United States to become so overly dependent on China for these valued resources in the first place. Today, the United States is 90% dependent on China and Russia for many vital "rare earth minerals." The main reason for our overreliance on nations like China for these minerals is not that we are running out of these resources here at home. The U.S. Mining Association estimates that we have at least $5 trillion of recoverable mineral resources....

These days, Ben Rhodes is criticizing the Trump administration's response to the coordinated drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has directly implicated Iran in the attack—Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen officially claimed responsibility—Rhodes wants to see some evidence that his former negotiating partners are, in fact, bad actors on the world stage. Ben Rhodes From the people who change the course of hurricanes with sharpies and have wrongly accused Iran of things in the past, I’d like to see the evidence that Iran actually launched these attacks https://twitter.com/joyce_karam/status/1172968900579024896 … Noah Pollak Ladies, find yourself...

Jim Wallis, progressive Christian activist, author, and founder of Sojourners magazine. | Elliott O'DonovanProgressive evangelical leader Jim Wallis argues in his new book that American Christians are “disconnected to Jesus” and must stop supporting President Donald Trump.Titled Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus and scheduled for release on Sept. 24, the founder of the group Sojourners wrote that he believes the United States is experiencing a political and religious crisis.“I believe the questions Jesus asked or prompted are vital to our lives and our society—especially right now—both to Christians and to those who are of different faiths...

There are some Christians who believe that suicide is an unpardonable sin, the logic being this: Suicide is self-murder, no murderer-has eternal life, and you cannot repent of the sin of suicide, since it is your last and final act.Other Christians argue that we are forgiven because of what Jesus did, not what we do. Therefore, regardless of which sins we commit or do not commit, Jesus still saves us.Still others would say, “Who says suicide is always a sin? What if the person suffered unbearable pain or was not in his or right mind? Surely God would overlook this.”Before...

ASHINGTON (AP) — As they investigate President Donald Trump, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will hold their first official hearing in what they are calling an impeachment investigation. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s outspoken former campaign manager, is scheduled to appear Tuesday to discuss the report by former special counsel Robert Mueller. But it’s unlikely that Democrats will get much new information. A devoted friend and supporter of the Republican president, Lewandowski isn’t expected to elaborate much beyond what he told Mueller’s investigators last year. Mueller himself testified this summer, with no bombshells. Two other witnesses who were subpoenaed alongside Lewandowski...

ABC News, NPR and PBS journalist and political commentator Cokie Roberts has passed away at age 75, according to a network announcement. "Cokie Roberts will be dearly missed," said James Goldston, president of ABC News. "Cokie's kindness, generosity, sharp intellect and thoughtful take on the big issues of the day made ABC a better place and all of us better journalists." From 1996-2002, Roberts co-anchored ABC’s "This Week" with Sam Donaldson. She also served as a political commentator and chief congressional analyst for "This Week" during her tenure at ABC dating back to 1988. SNIP

Christian artists Breanna Koski (L) and Joanna Duka say they cannot create art for events that celebrate same-sex marriage. | (Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom) A pair of Christian artists cannot be forced by a city ordinance to make wedding invitations for same-sex marriages, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday.In Brush & Nib v. City of Phoenix, Arizona’s highest court ruled that Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, cannot be compelled by a local antidiscrimination ordinance to provide their services to same-sex weddings.Writing for the majority, Justice Andrew Gould concluded that the city of Phoenix “cannot...

A reboot of the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica space saga is among the announced offerings of NBC Universal’s upcoming streaming service, which has been named Peacock. Sam Esmail, the creator of USA Network’s Mr. Robot and an executive producer on HBO’s Homecoming, is behind the reboot, it was announced on Tuesday morning. No other details were made available. Other, previously announced drama series on tap for Peacock include Dr. Death, based on the true-crime podcast and starring Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater; Brave New World, based on the dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley and starring Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A...

For all the complaining we hear on cable news on a daily basis, you might be tempted to think that the world was ending. Liberals wring their hands over how terrible things are under the hateful regime of the Bad Orange Man. Conservatives see Democrats making gains in the polls and fret that the rise of socialism and the inevitable collapse of our nation that would follow may be just around the corner. Maybe we spend too much time watching cable news because most people don’t feel that way.A new poll out from Scott Rassmussen asked Americans how the...