Free Republic

An incredible collection of nearly 150 classic and modern cars is coming up for auction, but they each come with a conflicted history. The cars were seized by the feds from the owners of DC Solar, who have been accused of running the bankrupt solar-powered generator company as an $800 million Ponzi scheme. Jeff and Paulette Carpoff haven’t been charged with any crimes as of yet, according to the U.S. Attoney’s office, but their situation remains under investigation. In the meantime, the Carpoffs and the Department of Justice agreed to hold an interlocutory sale and put the proceeds into a...

Hillary Clinton in a new interview appeared to float a conspiracy theory that the Russians are “grooming” Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to be a third-party candidate in 2020, while claiming 2016 Green Party nominee Jill Stein is "also" a Russian asset. Appearing on former President Obama aide David Plouffe’s “Campaign HQ” podcast, Clinton did not mention Gabbard specifically by name, though Plouffe ended the podcast by noting Clinton’s “belief that Tulsi Gabbard is going to be a third-party candidate propped up by Trump and the Russians.” “I'm not making any predictions but I think they've got...

Lousiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy has blocked a bill drafted by a top Democratic Senator that would accelerate the flow of Indian visa workers and immigrants into Americans’ office jobs. “The American people deserve an immigration system that looks like somebody designed it on purpose,” Kennedy told Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin during a polite conversation on the Senate floor. He said: I am rising to object [to Durbin’s bill] because a number of my colleagues … would like a little additional time to study this bill. But equally important, if not more important, many of my colleagues’ sentiment is that...

Videos at link. Advocates for immigrant rights in Oregon plan to ask a state committee Friday to approve a rule banning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making wholesale arrests of immigrants at or around the state’s courthouses. Upset over immigration arrests at courthouses has flared since Donald Trump was elected president. Within days of Trump taking office in January 2017, advocates for immigrants began reporting some highly public arrests or attempted arrests by ICE agents who were wearing plainclothes and offered little or no explanation. Advocates say the arrests have had a chilling effect on immigrants who now...

I take it this is her way of threatening to block appropriations for the G7, although I’m not sure how that would work. Normally Congress would just hand the executive branch a bunch of money for the event and the president would handle the arrangements, including the choice of locale, right? Is Pelosi suggesting that some sort of condition will be attached to the appropriation barring it from being used at a Trump property?If so, that’ll set us up for a fun news cycle next year when Trump decides to ignore that condition and hands the money to Trump...

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. Solzhenitsyn’s statement that “even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained,” is, I think, the single most hopeful statement regarding humanity that I have ever encountered. It is, first, an axiom of Orthodox Christian belief. A notion of total depravity,...

In an interview with “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC on Wednesday, presidential candidate Peter Francis O’Rourke admitted that, yes, he was willing to pry your AR-15 from your cold dead hands. As Townhall.com reports: Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said "there have to be consequences" for gun owners who do not surrender their AR-15s, which would include police going to their homes and confiscating them… "OK, but let’s just assume there’s a rancher in Texas that doesn’t, that says, 'I’m not going to do this because this is an unjust law and it’s unconstitutional.' What’s the next step? I...

Despite off-the-charts crime and rape levels, the direct result of Muslim migration, Sweden is more concerned with online “hate speech” OCTOBER 18, 2019 BY BARENAKEDISLAM The Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOI), along with other partners, have created a “hate speech robot” online and are asking members of the public to give it examples to form an algorithm to fight against “hate” on social media platforms. Breitbart The robot, named “Hatometen” is a collaboration between the FOI, a part of the Defence Ministry, as well as the Swedish national police and the University of Uppsala. According to a press release from...

Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Muslim chops off wife’s nose for not making tea OCT 17, 2019 1:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER A culture of violence: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34 Muhammad “struck me on the chest which caused me pain, and then said: Did you...

Finland: Muslim men rape and beat their wives, threaten to kill them because they asked for divorce OCT 17, 2019 4:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER A worldwide culture of violence. But if you say anything about it. You’re the problem. Again: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an...

Deep-sea explorers scouring the world's oceans for sunken World War II ships are investigating what they believe could be the third ship of seven lost to the Pacific during the Battle of Midway. Hundreds of miles off Midway Atoll, nearly halfway between the United States and Japan, a research vessel is launching underwater robots miles into the abyss to look for warships from the famed Battle of Midway. Weeks of grid searches around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have already led the crew of the Petrel to one sunken warship, the Japanese ship the Kaga. This week, the crew is deploying...

There used to be a Friday music thread on FR. Haven't seen it for sometime so here is a starter.

India: Muslim cuts wife’s tongue with a knife, says he had to because their tongues stuck together while kissing OCT 17, 2019 2:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER Mansuri previously was “‘charged with murder for allegedly burning his first wife, Parveen, to death,’ the cop said. ‘While criminal proceedings were still pending, he married a woman from Mumbai and assaulted her. She left him. He then married Tasleem.'” So he has been accused of murdering his first wife and assaulting the second, and now he has cut the tongue of the third because he says their tongues got stuck together while...

Slavery Persists In Saudi Arabia OCT 18, 2019 10:00 AM BY HUGH FITZGERALD As is well known, slavery was formally abolished in Saudi Arabia as late as 1962, and then only after terrific pressure had been applied to the Saudis by Western governments. And today, when we speak of slavery in the Muslim world, we think of Mauritania (with 600,000 slaves), as the report in the past hour discussed, Niger (600,000 slaves), Mali (200,000 slaves), and Libya (where slave markets have opened in nine sites during the last two years). Most of us assume that in Saudi Arabia, slavery is...

President Donald Trump is threatening a lawsuit against CNN over a ‘whistleblower’s’ recording showing bias. The recording of the network’s president, Jeff Zucker, was released by conservative activist group Project Veritas. President Trump on Monday floated a lawsuit threat against CNN over reports that the network’s president, Jeff Zucker, launched an internal bias campaign to undermine his presidency. In a tweet posted Monday evening, Trump said, “’Project Veritas-Obtained Undercover Videos Highlight Jeff Zucker’s (@CNN) Campaign To Destroy Trump. Videos Reveal @CNN’s BIAS!’ @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews Does this sound like a good, or even great, lawsuit?” The president’s latest gripe with CNN...

Afghanistan: Muslims bomb rival mosque, murdering 62 at Friday prayers OCT 18, 2019 12:30 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER This story highlights the fact that Muslims themselves have an interest in curbing jihad violence, rather than stigmatizing and demonizing those who call attention to it. Yet there is no large-scale Muslim movement to stop jihad activity, and self-proclaimed Islamic reformers are often insincere opportunists, profiteering off nervous conservatives anxious to prove they’re not “anti-Muslim.” “Blasts collapse roof at Afghan mosque, killing at least 62 at Friday prayers,” by Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Ahmad Sultan, Reuters, October 18, 2019: KABUL (Reuters) –...

Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien showed they know how to talk Turkey when they announced Thursday that they’ve negotiated a five-day delay in the Turkish military’s advance into Kurdish-held territory in Syria along Turkey’s border. The U.S. officials met for nearly five hours with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara to reach the agreement. President Trump praised the deal, tweeting that “This is a great day for civilization,” after Pence announced the agreement. The ceasefire is meant to give Kurdish forces time to make a peaceful, orderly withdrawal from...

KEY POINTS The FAA said Boeing withheld the messages between employees for months. The incident ramps up pressure on Boeing and CEO Muilenburg about the planes. Boeing and the FAA are facing several investigations about the 737 Max’s design and certification. Boeing shares slipped Friday after the Federal Aviation Administration said Boeing withheld for months messages between employees from 2016 regarding the 737 Max’s certification from the regulator. The plane has been grounded since mid-March after two fatal crashes. “The FAA is also disappointed that Boeing did not bring this document to our attention immediately upon its discovery,” the agency...

Newly released documents claim that the Danish government was prepared to build a wall on its southern border with Germany during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis. The documents claim that the government was fully prepared to build a 33-kilometre long wall across the border and had already spent nearly 22 million Danish Krone (£2.5m/$3.2m) on materials to build the structure, Danish newspaper Berlingske reports. Minister of Justice Nick Hekkerup revealed the plan to the Danish parliament showing that the Ministry of Defense’s Material and Purchasing Board had purchased 37,500 barbed spirals, 37,000 barbed wire posts, 35,000 barbed wire...

Ronan Farrow: Hillary Clinton pressured me to stop investigating Harvey Weinstein. pic.twitter.com/EGUHKlrfuu — Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) October 17, 2019 Farrow directly reported to Clinton when he worked for Obama’s state department. Farrow’s boyfriend of almost a decade was a speech and joke writer for both Obama and Clinton.