Free Republic

[...] On Thursday, as Lee attempted to push through his and Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-CA) S. 386 — legislation that would allow Indian nationals to effectively monopolize the U.S. green card system for at least ten years — Perdue blocked a vote because he is concerned about the impact the plan will have on rural healthcare industries. “I support this bill … we have some language that needs to be clarified,” Perdue said. “And I still have some concerns about the impact this legislation would have on some specific industries in my state and in the country.” Lee said he...

No one knows the mind of God, except for God himself. He is infinite; we are finite. We are not entirely clueless about his character, however, because God speaks to us through his Word. According to the Bible, one reason bad things happen is because the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). That’s why Jesus taught us to ask God to deliver us from the evil one when we pray (Matthew 6:13). Even in the Garden of Eden — in paradise, before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit — Satan was...

The latest media mass hysteria over a whistleblower’s complaint is based on precious little information. That has not stopped journalists from convicting President Trump in the court of public opinion and predicting his imminent demise. Who exactly is this unidentified “whistleblower”? What is the specific nature of his or her “urgent concern” complaint against the president? Does this complaint really qualify under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA)? These are just a few of the most fundamental questions that remain largely unknown. Despite the paucity of facts, some reasonable observations and conclusions can be drawn: 1. It appears that...

Two swing states narrowly won by President Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 were the sites of the greatest losses in manufacturing jobs between 2018 and 2019, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. The agency's state employment survey found that Wisconsin has lost about 5,200 manufacturing jobs since August of last year. In Pennsylvania, losses of manufacturing jobs topped 7,700, according to the survey.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday demanded the Trump Administration hand over the whistleblower complaint alleging the President and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into assisting Trump win the 2020 presidential election. Pelosi accused the Trump administration of violating federal law for withholding the whistleblower complaint from Congress. President Trump knows this is just a Deep State hit from a highly partisan snitch, so he asserted executive privilege over the document. Pelosi warned President Trump that “if he has done what has been alleged, then he is stepping into a dangerous minefield with...

It’s still early in the 2020 campaign cycle, so political predictions are risky. Nonetheless, it appears that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination has already become a two-person contest. Elizabeth Warren has replaced Bernie Sanders as the most formidable challenger to front-runner Joe Biden according to the most recent YouGov, SurveyUSA, and NBC/WSJ polls. All show Warren gaining on Biden and Sanders falling back to third place. Assuming these polls are accurate, the rest of the Democratic candidates are stuck in single digits. This is very good news for President Trump, who will have little difficulty beating Biden or...

Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib told D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser she wanted to hang a desecrated flag with 51 stars outside her congressional office, according to reports.Tlaib said Thursday she wants an altered American flag with 51 – instead of 50 – stars to demonstrate support for making the District of Columbia a state.Tlaib’s exchange with Bowser came about because of D.C. statehood advocating displaying American flags with 51 stars.

Nine people were shot, two fatally, during a 30-minute time frame in Washington, DC, despite the district’s gun licensing requirement, “assault weapons” ban, and ban on “high capacity” magazines. WUSA9 reported that the incident occurred Thursday night, and consisted of “two men armed with AK-47 style weapons [firing] dozens of shots in the apartment courtyard on Columbia Road.” Gabby Giffords’ gun group, the Giffords Law Center, reported that in addition to an “assault weapons” ban, a “high capacity” magazine ban, and licensing requirements, the district also has a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases, a purchase limit of one handgun...

Cybersecurity expertise might be the key to a generous salary, according to a new ranking of company salaries.Palo Alto Networks tops a list of the 25 highest paying companies in America from career site Glassdoor, coming in with a median salary of $170,929. That puts it ahead of Nvidia, where the average employee takes home $170,068 per year.Here's how the rest of the Top 10 shakes out, with median total salaries listed. Palo Alto Networks: $170,929Nvidia: $170,068Twitter: $162,852Gilead Sciences: $162,210Google: $161,254VMware: $158,063LinkedIn: $157,402Facebook: $152,962Salesforce: $150,379Microsoft: $148,068 (See the complete list on Glassdoor.)Tech companies dominate the list and many are based...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, embroiled in a blackface picture scandal, on Friday pledged to ban military-style assault rifles in the country’s most ethnically diverse city in a bid to get his campaign back on issue. Trudeau is campaigning in Toronto with less than five weeks to go before the Oct. 21 national election and two days after bombshell images of him in blackface emerged.

Officials are warning students to keep a distance from a Michigan school's pond after a caiman was spotted swimming loose in the water. Photo by ricke76/Pixabay.com ============================================================== Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Students and community members are being warned to keep a safe distance from a Michigan school pond, where an "alligator-type reptile" -- a caiman -- was spotted swimming. Bedford Public Schools said a teacher spotted an "alligator-type reptile" swimming in the Biology Pond on the campus of Bedford Senior High School and Bedford Junior High School. The district said experts identified the creature as a 3-foot caiman, a relative...

The distinguished judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit have considered how much Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have paid the Treasury Department to compensate the taxpayers for the giant bailout which kept Fannie and Freddie in existence and business. The court observed in its September 6 judgment: “The net worth sweep transferred a fortune from Fannie and Freddie to Treasury.” Specifically, “Treasury had disbursed $187 billion and recouped $250 billion.” The “net worth sweep” is the dividend on the senior preferred stock in Fannie and Freddie acquired by the Treasury in the bailout. Originally set...

Ear infections likely killed off the Neanderthals, according to scientists who claim to have cracked the mystery surrounding the species' extinction. While antibiotics are taken for granted in the modern world, a lack of sophisticated medicine 40,000 years ago is believed to have seen the archaic species suffer from the common childhood illness and then perish. Moreover, Neanderthals were more prone to contracting an ear infection as they had smaller ears, providing a tighter space for bacteria to become clogged up. This is believed to have led to breathing and hearing problems and pneumonia.

Walmart says it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam's Clubs following a string illnesses and deaths related to vaping. The nation's largest retailer said Friday that it will complete its exit from e-cigarettes after selling through current inventory. It cited growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity regarding vaping products.

T.A. Frank Retweeted Just about all the 2020 Democrats—save for Biden and Bernie—would at least consider a number-two spot on the ticket, and some might even be hoping for it. @TAFrank breaks down the consolation prize calculations https://t.co/xeczW4Xyy8— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) September 20, 2019

Friday on WABC’s “Eyewitness News at Noon,” Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said President Donald Trump might have committed “an act of treason,” referring to recent reports on a whistleblower’s complaint involving Trump’s communications with a foreign leader. Responding to Trump’s tweet about his dropping out of the presidential race, de Blasio said, “This is classic Donald Trump, you know, bait and switch. He is this morning staring down the fact that he may have committed an act of treason. You know, a whistleblower has come out, pointed out our president might have been ready to sell...

Aggressive fumigation against mosquitoes amid a Zika outbreak in Cuba - and not 'sonic attacks' - may have caused some 40 American and Canadian diplomats and their families in Havana to suffer brain damage, a new study has revealed. The incidents took place from late 2016 into 2018, causing President Donald Trump's administration to accuse Cuba's Communist government of using some sort of secret weapon deploying sonic or microwave technology to attack foreign diplomats. However, research commissioned by the Canadian government has revealed that neurotoxins present in some pesticides and insecticides may have been responsible for blocking a key enzyme...

I review Surah XXIV of the Koran, and describe where true light comes from.

Hurricane Lorena neared Mexico's resort-studded Los Cabos area Friday as owners pulled their boats from the water, tourists hunkered down in hotels, and police and soldiers went through low-lying, low-income neighborhoods urging people to evacuate. Lorena was forecast to pass over or near the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula Friday afternoon with heavy winds and soaking rains, and locals who have been through past hurricanes were taking no chances. "If we don't get the yacht out, the waves can damage it," said Juan Hernández, who rents his craft to foreign visitors. It's "a preventative measure for when a...

A team of scientists from 19 countries will set off for the Arctic on Friday, aiming to freeze their ship into the polar ice for a year to research the changing climate. Aboard the massive icebreaker Polarstern, belonging to Germany’s Alfred Wegener polar and marine research institute, researchers hope to glean new understanding of the region. The 140 million-euro ($155 million) mission will study the atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, ecosystem and natural processes — looking to build a picture of how climate change is affecting the region and the entire world. “No other region of the world has warmed as...