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A Maldivian man who received multiple death threats online has been arrested on charges of insulting Islam on social media. The suspect was arrested from the island of Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll, police said. The 2015 penal code criminalises “criticism of Islam in a public medium with the intention of causing disregard for Islam,” which is categorised as a class one misdemeanour that carries a maximum prison sentence of one year. The 1994 religious unity law also prohibits “attempting to disrupt the religious unity of Maldivians or talking in a manner that creates religious conflict among people.” Islam is...

President Donald Trump remains on a war footing. With California. Trump's primary mission during his two-day visit to the state was to raise millions from wealthy Republicans. But he also made a point of deriding the state's handling of its homeless crisis, and on Wednesday, he issued a long-expected challenge to California's authority to reduce car emissions.

A Florida Atlantic University poll released Wednesday shows President Trump narrowly leading his potential Democrat challengers in a hypothetical 2020 general election matchup. The poll – conducted September 12-15 among 934 registered voters in Florida– showed the president narrowly leading his top Democrat challengers in a general election matchup in the Sunshine State. According to the poll, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) appeared to be the most competitive challenger, losing to Trump 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent. Joe Biden (D) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lose to the president by one point – 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent, the poll showed.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — When the lifeless body of a 26-year-old man was found two years ago in the apartment of Ed Buck, a small-time Democratic donor and political activist, the authorities described it as an accidental overdose. Then, in January, a 55-year-old fashion consultant died in Mr. Buck’s home in exactly the same way. Once again, he faced no charges. On Tuesday, after a third man survived a methamphetamine overdose in the apartment, Mr. Buck was finally arrested and hauled away in the back of a police car. The sordid facts — and Mr. Buck’s seeming double life —...

Mass arrest of Salafis following attacks at police checkpoints expose continuing distrust between the two groups Suicide bombings targeted two police checkpoints in Gaza City on Tuesday evening, killing three Palestinian policemen and wounding several others - and posing a new challenge for the Hamas movement. Ever since it became the de facto ruling party in the besieged Gaza Strip following 2006 legislative elections that led to a split with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas has faced countless issues in its governance of the coastal Palestinian enclave... For some, the double suicide bombing reflects growing resentment and rising anger...

Trump’s communications with foreign leader are part of whistleblower complaint that spurred standoff between spy chief and Congress, former officials say The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump’s communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on...

Join Freepers throughout the world to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems 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 Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us in prayer for the borders of our nation.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Old Testament) Daniel 9 The Seventy “Sevens” 20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went...

***SNIP*** "Your letter seeks federal dollars for California from hardworking American taxpayers but fails to admit that your State and local policies have played a major role in the current crisis," Sec. Carson wrote in a letter responding to the leaders. ***SNIP*** The letter also blames California's sanctuary policies, saying "illegal and inadmissible aliens are increasing housing demand and draining resources," and says the Trump administration is addressing the problem by improving border security to reduce drug use. "The Trump administration is doing its part," Carson writes in the final part of the letter. "California needs to address the obvious...

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled a plan Wednesday to make public college tuition free for all state residents. It’s a “an absolute game-changer” for the state, according to Grisham, a Democrat. Experts say it may well provide an example of good practice for state and local officials across the country who are crafting their own free college programs. If state lawmakers approve the proposal, the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship program will pay for all state-college tuition and fees that aren’t already covered by federal grants and a state lottery. That’s an unpaid gap ranging from 25% to 40%...

Texas lawmakers added more than $6.5 billion new dollars to public education, allocating more total state funding to education than ever before. There’s a lot of interest in where all the money is going. The biggest recipients of education funding are public school districts, which receive financing from both state coffers and locally-collected taxes. But charter schools, public schools that are funded entirely by the state, will benefit, as well. Charter schools are given more autonomy in exchange for academic and innovative results. Because charter schools are another school option for many students, they help provide a crucial impact on...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) appears to be growing her share of support from black voters, who have been slow to warm to her campaign. A new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found Warren in second place among black voters with 13 percent support, her best showing in any poll to date. That's up from 8 percent in the previous survey from July, although the 5-point swing is within the poll's margin of error. [Snip] Former Vice President Joe Biden still dominates the field with black voters, and he'll be the favorite to win the nomination unless...

According to Channel 13, 97.6% of the votes from Tuesday's elections have already been counted, Blue and White stands at 33 seats and Likud at 31 seats, with Blue and White leading by a narrow margin. It is important to note that these are still not the final results. Overnight, the committee was counting the near quarter of a million soldiers' votes cast by Israeli soldiers. The Central Election Committee (CEC) has been updating its website since the close of the polls at 10 p.m. on Tuesday. The last update was at 10:40 a.m. on Thursday: 4,354,991 votes had been...

Morning "The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." Galatians 5:1 This "liberty" makes us free to heaven's charter--the Bible. Here is a choice passage, believer, "When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee." You are free to that. Here is another: "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee"; you are free to that. You are a welcome guest at the table of the promises. Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may draw from it...

A few years ago, I held the widespread belief that in the wild, humans were far more dangerous than bears. Humans are the top predator on the planet. They routinely prey on their own. Far more humans are killed by humans than by bears. The reality is more complex. As I researched bear attacks and the effectiveness of using handguns to stop those attacks, I found I was mistaken about the comparative danger of humans. Comparing how many people are killed by humans against how many are killed by bears is a misleading metric. There are hundreds of millions...

Today’s Cryptogram Courtesy of The Arkansas Gazette ZPYRMDKDL AKOV Y NVKSC KR TKDP, KT HMB NYD ZPYNV OVP NVKSC’R ZPYRMD AKOVMBO CPROZMHKDL HMBZ MAD. –EMVD IYRMD QZMAD 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...

Today we feature Jimmie Dolan & His Texas Ramblers with the tune Tennessee Baby (1948). THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

The Congressional Budget Office reported on Tuesday that, with one month to go, the federal deficit for fiscal year 2019 has already topped $1 trillion. As night follows day, Trump administration critics blamed the tax cuts. And once again, the data prove them wrong. The CBO report says that the federal deficit reached $1.067 by the end of August. That’s up $168 billion from the comparable period in fiscal year 2018. The deficit this year will be larger than the entire budget was in 1987. Where did the increase come from? Why, tax cuts, of course. But the report shows...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) What is it with leftist politicians and this blackface thing? – Was it just a really big deal among white lefties in the 1980s and 1990s to do blackface parties? Asking because, having never been a lefty, I would have never been invited to their shindigs (all you Millennials and Gen-Zers will have to google that reference). Anyways, leftist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now achieved the Ralph Northam and Hillary Clinton badge of honor, as a photo of him in full blackface (the fawning Canadian press is calling it “brownface”...

There has been a lot of talk about whether our law enforcement (and our military) would follow the orders of those like that furry fascist Beto to unleash a reign of terror upon innocent American citizens who the liberal elite’s unconstitutional gun decrees would turn into felons. Most of our heroic cops and warriors would hold true to their oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But some pathetic worms would willingly, even eagerly betray their oaths and make war upon their own people. They need to know there will...