Free Republic

RUSH: President Trump today met the press in his now famous, brilliant way. You know, the official White House press briefing is canceled. There aren’t any anymore. You know why? The president said, why should I allow these people a forum to make themselves famous at my expense? Nothing gets accomplished in these things anyway. It’s a tradition that doesn’t serve my purposes. It’s a waste of time. But rather than not talk to the press, he talks to the press more than ever. He’s talking to ’em, not the press secretary. He sees them as he leaves the White...

India: Muslims who killed Hindu leader say the murder was justified by Sharia OCT 25, 2019 3:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER We are constantly told in the West that Sharia is entirely benign, and that only racist, bigoted “Islamophobes” think otherwise. In reality, Islam mandates death for non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic state who mention “something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or Islam” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o11.10), and such laws are based upon passages in the Hadith and Sira in which Muhammad orders the murders of people who have insulted him. These include Abu...

9/11-style Plot Foiled, but France Perhaps 5 Years Away From “Irreversible” Immigration-caused Anarchy With France dodging another bullet and intelligence agencies foiling a 9/11-style plot, the nation’s interior minister admits that “60 attacks have been foiled since 2013 and every week people are arrested.” It’s yet another reminder why his predecessor warned that within five years France could face an “irreversible” situation that leads to the country’s break-up. As the Independent reports on the latest plot, “According to French paper Le Parisien, the suspect was looking for a weapon to hijack a plane.” “Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on France-2...

The 20-something couple with a history of small-time scams had inadvertently hacked the world’s most powerful nation for a five-figure ransom at a time of high anxiety over national security on Inauguration Day. The Romanians had launched hundreds of thousands of emails embedded with ransomware in an attachment disguised as an invoice, authorities said. The list of email addresses they bought included, by chance, the Washington, D.C., police department. A recipient there apparently took the bait, opening the attachment that locked up the street-camera system. Only a payment could produce the key. Ms. Cismaru sent a message to the Journal...

Amnesty International urges Jordan to stop imprisoning women for defying men, ignores root cause of the problem OCT 25, 2019 2:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER “Under the male ‘guardianship’ system, which Amnesty said is at the centre of a web of discriminatory provisions, men are empowered to control ‘women’s lives and limit their personal freedoms’, while women could be subjected to degrading practices such as ‘virginity tests’, aimed at determining whether they’ve had sex outside marriage.” All right. But where does this male guardianship system come from? From Islamic law: “[A] woman may not leave the city without her husband...

CNN interviewed Andrew McCabe on Friday about developments in a Justice Department criminal investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, but the network failed to disclose that the former FBI deputy director is suing the Justice Department and is under criminal investigation himself. Interviewed by CNN’s Jim Sciutto, McCabe, a CNN analyst, was largely critical of the investigation, which is being led by John Durham, a U.S. attorney in Connecticut, and overseen by Attorney General William Barr. Durham’s investigation has recently shifted from an administrative review of U.S. intelligence activities related to the Trump campaign to a full-blown criminal...

Austria: Married Muslim migrant temporarily marries two non-Muslim teens in mosque OCT 25, 2019 3:30 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER Temporary marriage or pleasure marriage, i.e. prostitution behind the hypocritical fig leaf of a “marriage” with a time limit, is an established Shi’ite concept that is also prevalent among some Sunnis. It has been practiced among Sunnis in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, although Sunnis ostensibly reject it. Shi’ites justify temporary marriage, mutah, by their reading of Qur’an 4:24: And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess. It is a decree of Allah for...

I usually donate via Paypal. Paypal says I have made the donation and it is deducted from my account. But I wonder if there is a way to verify that FR actually received the money. After the donation when PP says "returning to merchant" I always get an error message. I made two separate donations last night and today the scoreboard shows only one more donation from [Kentucky] than before I did so. I know this sounds paranoid, but it seems hinky and I'd like to confirm the donations.

After Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced he would not seek re-election, Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement praising the disgraced speaker. Bonnen’s announcement came amidst growing calls from Republican members for him to step down after an audio recording of a meeting with Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan revealed he attempted to make a quid pro quo offer of press credentials in exchange for the political targeting of certain Republican members. But Abbott’s statement alludes to none of that and, instead, celebrates Bonnen for representing his district “with an unparalleled passion and vigor” and for “his commitment to...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope calls statues ‘Pachamamas’ and apologizes for their removal from church ROME, October 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has called the carved wooden statues at the center of an idolatry scandal in the Vatican “Pachamama statues,” confirming suspicions that the statues were idols of the Incan fertility goddess. Speaking to attendees at the Amazon Synod, he apologized as “the bishop of Rome” to those who were offended at the statues being removed from the church and thrown into the Tiber.  He also said the statues have been displayed without intending to be idolatrous. Read the full transcript of...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R) leads a field of declared and potential GOP Senate contenders by 20 points in the race to replace retiring Sen. Mike Enzi (R) in Wyoming, according to a new poll from Montana State University Billings. The House Republican Conference Chairwoman, who has not yet said whether she will run for Senate, garnered 37 percent support in the survey, compared to 17 percent support for second-placed former Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who has already filed to run for the Senate seat. Others were polling in single digits, including GOP mega-donor Foster Friess, who is also weighing a...

Amazonian Bishop Slams ‘Demonic Sacrilege’ at Vatican Bp. Azcona confirms 'Pachamama' is a pagan goddess VATICAN (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Amazonian bishop is denouncing the "demonic sacrileges" taking place in Rome, confirming that the controversial fertility figure dubbed "Pachamama" is indeed a pagan goddess. Bishop José Luis Azcona, Emeritus Bishop of Marajó in the Amazon region, is condemning the pagan rites surrounding the idol as "demonic sacrileges that produce scandal." "In those rituals there is the devil, there is magic. Our Lady is not the Pachamama, she is the Virgin of Nazareth,” the Spanish-born prelate thundered in a 45-minute sermon given Oct. 16 in the Basilica of...

Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez Course First Grand Prix1963 Number of Laps71 Circuit Length4.304km Race Distance305.354 km Lap Record1:18.741 Valtteri Bottas (2018)

General Motors (GM) has reached a deal with employees to end the longest automotive strike in 50 years. GM employees with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union ratified the 2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement on Friday evening, UAW said in a statement. The contract includes an $11,000 per member signing bonus, performance bonuses, two 3 percent annual raises and two 4 percent lump sum payments while holding the line on health care costs. “General Motors members have spoken,” said Terry Dittes, UAW vice president and director of the UAW-GM Department. “We are all so incredibly proud of UAW-GM members who captured...

AP Reporters Pushed FBI to prosecute Manafort New Benghazi Documents Confirm Clinton Email Cover-Up The State Department Monitored People It Didn’t Like AP Reporters Pushed FBI to prosecute Manafort The Associated Press, founded in 1846 as a cooperative association of newspapers, has enjoyed a reputation for independence and fairness over the years. Lately, however, it has come under criticism for what some see as a left/liberal bias. Certainly, what we have just learned about its dealings with anti-Trump partisans in the Justice Department does nothing to improve our perception of the news service. We have released two sets of...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Friday that all but three GOP senators had signed onto his resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah) have not yet signed onto the resolution, according to an updated list of co-sponsors shared by Graham the day after he introduced the measure. A spokesperson for Collins didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about whether or not she would back the resolution, which formally opposes the impeachment inquiry and urges House Democrats to hold an official vote on it. A spokeswoman for...

Former national-security adviser Michael Flynn’s lawyer claims in a new bombshell court filing that the FBI tampered with notes from his 2017 interview, during which Flynn pleaded guilty to lying. In a 37-page motion, attorney Sidney Powell called on the court to “dismiss the entire prosecution for outrageous government misconduct” over allegations that FBI agents manipulated a form summarizing Flynn’s statements to investigators. The interview dealt with Flynn’s contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to the FBI about his Russia contacts during his brief stint as national-security adviser. He...

The spineless Republicans in the Senate should come to the realization that if they do convict the president and do impeach him and remove him from office that he will not be able to retaliate in any way. Once he is no longer a sitting president, I believe he will be indicted for all the crimes he has perpetrated on our country and he will be put away for a long time. Please take that long look in the mirror and realize that a mistake was made and do what’s right for our country. All the president’s men will take...

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the USA PATRIOT Act - a textbook example of how the United States federal government expands its power. The American public largely accepts the USA PATRIOT Act as a part of civic life as immutable, perhaps even more so than the Bill of Rights. However, this act – passed in the dead of night, with little to no oversight, in a panic after the biggest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor – is not only novel, it is also fundamentally opposed to virtually every principle on which the United States of America was founded....

00:54 26.10.2019 Protesters returns a tear gas canisters to police during clashes in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, 20 October 2019. Protests in the country have spilled over into a new day, even after President Sebastian Pinera cancelled the subway fare hike that prompted massive and violent demonstrations. Anti-Government Protests Continue in Santiago, Chile – Mass protests were organised in Santiago, the capital of Chile, after the government announced an increase in public transportation fares. While the motion was later abandoned, the demonstrations have morphed into a broader movement protesting against other grievances. Chileans have taken to the streets for another day...